[caption id="attachment_4129" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Julian Assange"]
[/caption]Carol Forsloff - Reporters
Without Borders has condemned WikiLeaks release of the Afghan war
documents by Julian Assange as "a bad precedent for the Internet's
future."
How far is too far in freedom of the press? Does
The
recent pending release of documents, announced by Assange last
Thursday, is said to have been delayed so Wikileaks could go through the
documents and remove the names of innocent Afghans.
recent pending release of documents, announced by Assange last
Thursday, is said to have been delayed so Wikileaks could go through the
documents and remove the names of innocent Afghans.
Assange said they are halfway through the process.
Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell called the planned release the "height of irresponsibility."
"It would compound a mistake that has already put far too many lives at risk," he said.
"It would compound a mistake that has already put far too many lives at risk," he said.
Morrell underlined the Pentagon's concern about all this and demanded
WikiLeaks remove the documents from their website. They have also been
asked to erase all classified material from their computers.
WikiLeaks behavior regarding secure documents and their release has been called "irresponsible" and more.
Australia has some 1,550 troops in
Afghanistan. It has launched an investigation to determine whether the
release of classified military documents has endangered any of the
country's soldiers or compromised Australia's national interest.
Citizen response has also been reflective of similar concerns, although some people praise WikiLeaks as heralding press freedom and trying to end the war. Preston C. Dumas has expressed the
concern expressed by many people in his letter to the Houston
Chronicle. He looks at freedom of the press and the extent and nature
of that freedom:
"I agree with the White House's
remarks about the most recent leak and with the hacker who turned in
Manning. While it might be appropriate for the press to inform, empower
and safeguard the citizenry by exposing wrongful activities by our
government, I don't feel that members of the military or news
organizations are acting responsibly when they publish info that doesn't
reach the level of threatening the freedom or interests of the American
people. Manning or anyone else who is guilty of such disclosures
should, I feel, be dealt with in a more severe manner. "
Reporters Without Borders,
a press freedom group, also condemns the actions of WikiLeaks as going
beyond freedom of the press into the area of wanton disregard for the
public interest.
In looking at the issue, Reporters Without Borders wrote in its condemnation letter to WikiLeaks:
"It is true that you said that “a further 15,000 potentially sensitive reports” would be released, Reporters Without Borders continued in objection to what has occurred with the relase of the documents so far.
The organization went on to say, "Nonetheless,
indiscriminately publishing 92,000 classified reports reflects a real
problem of methodology and, therefore, of credibility. Journalistic work
involves the selection of information. The argument with which you
defend yourself, namely that Wikileaks is not made up of journalists, is not convincing."
indiscriminately publishing 92,000 classified reports reflects a real
problem of methodology and, therefore, of credibility. Journalistic work
involves the selection of information. The argument with which you
defend yourself, namely that Wikileaks is not made up of journalists, is not convincing."
Wikileaks is an information outlet and, as such, is subject to the same rules of publishing responsibility as any other media."
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