the Real News Story

Recently, in our final media law and literacy class discussion I was astounded to learn about the truth behind the Wikileaks situation and Russia involved in election meddling. I wasn’t aware that the supposed hacking of the DNC conducted by Russia wasn't exactly the case but instead was leaked by someone who copied information about Clinton trying to take advantage to steal the election in 2016 from Sanders. I also learned a lot about WikiLeaks and its founder after more research: Julian Assange. He is an Australian journalist, computer programmer and the founder of Wikileaks who is serving a prison sentence in the UK and is refusing extradition to the US. A lot see him as a hacker and whistleblower but he rather sees himself as an advocate of information transparency. 

Wikileaks bring international attention to war crimes, human rights issues, and corruption. In 2010, Chelsea Manning published leaks in an article under Wikileaks describing a collateral murder video, Afghanistan war logs, Iraq war logs, in which the government then launched a criminal investigation into the company and asked the international community for assistance. In November 2010, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for Assange likely due to him uncovering American documents and a month later he surrendered to the UK police. He then was losing extradition charges and decided to seek asylum at the London Embassy for about seven years.

In 2016 Wikileaks revealed email communications sent by HRC during the election period from her private server during her tenure as Secretary of State. Mueller discovered that the Russians worked with Wikileaks in carrying out this attack. Assange denied having any part which is logical due to his incarceration at the embassy whereas in April of 2019 his asylum was revoked and the authorities came in to drag him out where he serves 50 weeks in a super-max prison in the UK where he is starting to undergo further serious charges. 

This raises the questions over whether he did have a part in any of this and in any of the other actions he’s accused of, which again, is difficult to believe when he had no technological access within the embassy. Furthermore, it must be analyzed if him exposing secrets and bringing about transparency should be treated with such vigor and punishment to the extreme level that he is currently being treated at.