WikiLeaks Exposed!

Oh the wonderful wide world of WikiLeaks. It is ‘Gossip Girl’ gone viral. Instead of exposing secrets regarding the Upper East Side, Julian Assange is exposing the secrets of the world. Assange is an Australian journalist who created the WikiLeaks phenomenon posting undisclosed information gained from anonymous sources and whistleblowers from around the globe “Seemingly out of nowhere, Julian Paul Assange, a silver-haired Australian, has emerged as the world's most important newsman”(Wachter, 2010).He is the voice of those who fear to speak.

I see Julian Assange as a hacktivist. He hacks into computers for a politically motivated purpose, to unravel the secrets of our most powerful world leaders and organisations. He and his team go above and beyond in the efforts to ensure the world knows the truth about what is going on. I personally think he is an iconic person in today’s society and although I believe and understand how his efforts can be dangerous at times, I know he has good intentions. His posts cause a lot of controversy and his punishment is costly but this is a man who has dedicated his life to making sure the truth is exposed and the feared voices can be anonymously heard. It is a dangerous dedication and something Assange is well aware of “He fears that he will eventually be sent to the United States and perhaps even killed for his role in exposing sensitive US material through WikiLeaks” ( RT, 2012). People would beg to differ with my interpretation many seeing Assange as no more than a terrorist sex offender example being hactivists who recently tried to take over his site “Assange is the head of a new breed of terrorist. We are doing this as a protest against his attempt to escape justice into Ecuador. This would be a catalyst for many more like him to rise up in his place. We will not stop and they will not stop us,” DietPepsi writes.” ( RT, 2012).  

Social media plays a massive role in disseminating information. Wikileaks have access to both Twitter and Facebook currently having 1,783,259 (Twitter) Twitter followers and 2,167,529 (Facebook) likes on Facebook, ensuring the world stay connected and up to date with the latest scandals. By posting leaks on government corruption social media enable on to share or repost this information and it has the ability to go viral. Once viral it is a well known scandal and that’s when the media jump in. When the media jump in it is all over our TV screens and newspapers and the major publicity and uproar begins.

WikiLeaks strongly relates with Jenkins’ views of participatory culture. The public aren’t just acting as consumers to the site, they are contributors also. Most of Assange’s leaks come from anonymous sources from the public and news rooms. His exposing what others are too scared to expose. An activist to justice and honestly throughout the world.

I believe WikiLeaks will just continue to grow and grow. Although recent hactivists attempts to shut it down, with or without Assange’s freedom, his loyal staff members and mass public donations will enable it to continue. Everybody loves a scandal, but nobody ever likes the whisperer. To go against a world and the most powerful people in it is nothing less than inspiring.

References

Facebook, ‘Wikileaks’, Facebook, viewed 11^th January 2013, http://www.facebook.com/wikileaks?fref=ts

Twitter, ‘Wikileaks’, Twitter, viewed 11^th January 2013, https://twitter.com/wikileaks 

Unknown, ‘WikiLeaks Shut down by American Hackers’,RT.com, 9^Th August 2012, viewed 11^th January 2013, http://rt.com/usa/news/wikileaks-attacks-antileaks-group-293/

Wachter, P, 2010, ‘Just Who Is Julian Assange, The man Behind WikiLeaks?’, Aolnews., viewed 17^th January 2013, http://www.aolnews.com/2010/07/26/just-who-is-julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks/