I’m sure most of you are familiar with Wikileaks and how it is changing the structure of journalism. If not, check out the links at the bottom of this prompt. I’m curious to see how you guys see Wikileak’s actions. Speaking specifically about the Afghan War Diaries, do the potential security risks of these secret documents outweigh the benefit of having information available to the masses? How does the availability of information about major corporations and governments affect an everyday citizen’s ability to question authority? Does Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, deserve judicial action? What affect does Wikileaks have on the future?
I know there are a lot of questions here, so feel free to choose whichever you’d like to answer. I’m looking forward to your answers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10757263
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/What-Is-Wikileaks--99239414.html
13 comments:
Regarding the Afghan War Diaries, I do think the security risks outweigh the benefits because the whole strategy of war is having the upper-hand by keeping your strategy to yourself. If info regarding the war is leaked, this defeats the purpose of having a plan that outsmarts the enemy because now they can access secret files that the one side didn't want revealed.
I think the revelations of these documents from companies and governments greatly affect the public's ability to question authority because now they have a reason to. Companies and governments are bound to have skeletons in their closets and, for obvious reasons, they don't want these leaked because it stains their credibility and the public is less trusting of them. The affect of Wikileaks on the future could affect both positively and negatively because while it may leak secrets it thinks the public needs to know, this may risk the lives of soldiers overseas, etc.... But then it could also reveal useful information regarding future leaders of America.
I agree with Meagan because the main strategy used in war is keeping your plans to yourself so that your enemy does not know what your next move will be. The risks of Wikileaks are that they are putting soldiers overseas and others at risk because anyone has access to the information.
Also, the government and large corporations do not want information leaked to the public for obvious reasons making it harder for people to trust them. When "scandals" within the government are released to the public, it makes it much easier to question authority on why this is happening.
It's hard to say if Wikileaks are going to have a long lasting positive or negative effect. In a sense they reveal information that would otherwise be kept secret and on the other side, they do run a high risk.
I'm not 100% on either side of this issue. I think that information that compromises security should be held in secrecy because the safety of individuals and our country is far more important than the spreading of information. However, the fact that so much information is reserved from the public by government and corporations greatly affects our ability to properly question authority. How are we supposed to question authority when we do not know all of the various facets to an issue? In that regard, I think that spreading of this withheld information is good.
In the future, I think that Wikileaks is going to continue to face harsh opposition and constant obstacles to stay afloat, but I think that they are going to continue expanding the amount of information open to the public. This can have negative and positive affects depending on what issues are being addressed. Wikileaks itself is controversial, even more, it is causing a great deal of controversy by the information it is providing.
Overall, I agree with what others have already posted. Wikileaks does provide information to common citizens, but the benefits of providing that information does not always outway the risks involved. When it comes to sensitive national security information, I think the risks outway the benefits. Anyone with access to the internet could have access to war strategy, informants' information, etc., and in the wrong hands, this information could put many people in danger. In this sense, society's best interest would be to keep those documents secret. On the other hand, in order to successfully question authority, one needs to have adequate information on that authority and its practices. Knowledge is power, and in that respect, Wikileaks is doing somewhat of a service to the average person's ability to question authority.
It is hard to say definitively whether Wikileaks is harmful or helpful, but, in my opinion, it can be either one depending on the information that is being released.
I agree with what most people have said that the risks of revealing such information outweighs the benefits. Particularly in relation to issues related to war, I think there are very good reasons for such documents not to be revealed (particularly while still involved in said war) because it has the potential to give up strategic advantage, even if it is unknowingly or unintentionally. For this reason I think the risks far outweigh the benefits because giving up a strategic advantage risks soldier's lives and could (at the worst) change the tide of the war, and the potential benefits allow the people to better question the actions of the government/soldiers, but war is a nasty thing and some things, although horrible, may be unavoidable (for the simplest example, death). I do think that it is important, for the government and people, to be able to look back and question how things were done and how things can be done better in the future, but I think that the time for the people to do this is not during the war.
Wikileaks shouldn't be kept on the internet. There is too much highly sensitive material that reaches this website.
Classified information is important to the safety of the country, and shouldn't be allowed to be viewed by the public eye. That is how countries are attacked and civilizations fail. I think because of that, the founder should be punished to the full extent of the law.
On the flip side, I believe that some things should be made public. If the public is being downtrodden, I want to know at it. Wikileaks should be helping the common folk, not putting them in danger.
The guy is all about money and publicity. I don't think he cares about questioning authority at all.
I think that the Afghan War Diaries definitely present some pretty significant risks to soldiers currently fighting in Afghanistan. I feel like Wikileaks was a good idea to keep our government and military accountable and in check during the war, but if it endangers the lives of soldiers serving overseas, then I really see no benefits to it.
I feel like if the things we write online can be used against us at a later time, no matter how secure we think they are, then we really should be able to question the government's authority by doing the same thing back to them. With all this knowledge released, it makes it much easier for everyday citizens to question authority and to find evidence to support there arguments.
With regard to Julian Assange, I do not think that there is anything that the United States could do to him. It would be very easy to argue that he only published the documents under his rights to free speech. He never actually stole them from anyone. Also, he has been arrested in the United Kingdom on charges of sex crimes in Sweden. The UK, therefore has the right to extradite him wherever they feel necessary. The United States could try to take him to court, but that would require the UK to extradite him to the US as opposed to Sweden where he is actually facing serious criminal charges.
I find it interesting that the soldier who leaked the documents could face execution in a military court for what is essentially treason. Where is the line drawn between illegally spreading information to your own people and simply excersizing free speech?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12628983
With Julian Assange awaiting trial and possible imprisonment, I think that wikileaks will remain quiet for quite some time until another person wants to stand up to show the world what is going on in Afghanistan.
I absolutely agree with everyone who's posted before this - regarding the Afghan War diaries, there was a serious security breach in our military's planning. The public should not be given information that directly relates to battle strategies or anything that could put the success of the nation as a whole in jeopardy.
However, Wikileaks aren't totally bad either, since they do give the public access to information that the government would otherwise keep hidden from us. This allows us to get an inside look at what exactly is taking place in our government, and gives a means of 'calling out' corrupt officials and questioning authority in that way.
Wikileaks have made us more cautious and overall less trusting of the government and people in power, and if they do continue it will be very interesting to see how they will affect the future of our country.
I agree with Lee. Wikileaks should not be kept on the internet because it is too much of a threat to national security and safety. Especially with all the Afghan War information, like most of you have already said, it is too much of a risk to soldiers' lives for everyone to have access to that information.
As far as Wikileaks goes with other information, I do think that the public could benefit from knowing what goes on behind the scenes in our government. However, the website gives us just one more issue for the country to debate about. I don't think the benefits of the website are worth all of the controversy that it has stirred up. I think the founder only created the website to cause a scene, not out of genuine concern for citizens.
I have two conflicting views on this topic. On the one hand, I certainly agree that it poses an immediate danger to post such crucial information about the US's entire foreign affairs policy on the web. It puts not only the nation as a whole in danger but also the soldiers who are overseas carrying out those plans in danger. This is the largest issue in my mind because these men and women are doing their job and are now in severe danger because the enemy has the potential upper hand and knows not only their past and present moves but also their future moves. On the other hand, however, I do feel that America has stopped questioning and worrying about what the motives behind the military actions are and so this helps put things a bit more in perspective and also allows America to realize what the government is truly doing with its tax dollars.
I agree with what Kathleen said as well. The highly sensitive government documents that have been released to the public pose a major security issue to our soldiers overseas and to people living in the United States. Much of the information revealed in these documents such as the Afghan War Diaries may be upsetting for many Americans and people around the world, but there is a reason why they are classified. It sucks to say that I think the line needs to be drawn on questioning authority when it creates a conflict for our national safety. I think Wikileaks could provide a positive impact for questioning authority in the future, as long as it has some limits set on it.
This is kind of a two way thing. On one hand having information readily available is a potential security risk of the general public by someone who could abuse of the information. It could create a hazard that while informing people it will also harm them. However, by having information available, the people are able to determine wheather or not they are being treated fairly and are aware of things much bigger than themselves. Hence by doing this the people as a whole are able to protect themselves from a greater authority and question their surroundings to make the world a better place. It could go either way.
I personally think that wikileaks is information that I could have gone my whole life without knowing and probably would sleep better at night. I also think that there is a reason why there is classified information. I do not know if people in the U.S. really know that the kind of access we have to our government information is actually very good compared to most of the world. The documents on wikileaks although they are really interesting, in my opinion serve no purpose to the public. I have read several of the documents on there and I think some are really interesting, some I simply could not get through and some I simply thought “CRAP, it insane that the government would do that!” unfortunately though, I believe that our access to this information will not help us in determining future “secret” foreign policy or help the U.S. relationship with the world at all.
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