WikiLessons 0
I have mixed feelings about Wikileaks, what it does and how it has operated.
It seems clear that the material it has released endangers the reputations and positions of politicos foreign and domestic far more than it does the physical safety of anyone.
I have also long felt that the government stamps “Secret” on documents when the accurate stamp would be “Embarrassing to the Pompous.”
At the same time, WikiLeaks seems rather reckless.
I find it difficult, though, to disagree with John Naughton’s conclusions about the larger picture. A nugget:
(snip)
Which brings us back to the larger significance of this controversy. The political elites of western democracies have discovered that the internet can be a thorn not just in the side of authoritarian regimes, but in their sides too. It has been comical watching them and their agencies stomp about the net like maddened, half-blind giants trying to whack a mole. It has been deeply worrying to watch terrified internet companies – with the exception of Twitter, so far – bending to their will.
See also James Woolcott.
