Wikileaks first came online in 2007, promising any individual a forum to anonymously publish previously classified, hidden or sensitive documents and make them publicly available. The idea was relatively simple: given the viral nature of the Internet - and the ease of duplicating digital documents - once secret information was published, it could never become secret again.
The first documents were often of limited long-term importance but still generated noteriety - such as the publication of documents from the Church of Scientology, or then-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal emails. But Wikileaks also had a broader political agenda; its "...primary agenda is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East..." according to its own mission statement.
That hasn't stopped Wikileaks from publishing a variety of documents unflattering to the U.S. and other national governments. Examples include U.S. military protocols for Guantanamo Bay detainees and battlefield video of a controversial U.S. airstrike in Baghdad. As more and more documents began to clog its servers, Wikileaks abandoned it's all-access-posting rule in favor of requesting submissions from leakers. Wikileaks network of volunteers then attempt to authenticate the document, and determine its overall relevance and importance.
Courtesy :
With the recent release of tens of thousands of U.S. military documents on the Afghan war, Assange and Wikileaks has already been sharply criticized and condemned by the White House and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
You can listen to our earlier interview with Julian Assange, and learn more about Wikileaks here.
Courtesy : Voice of America
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