Julian Assange - the man who won't keep a secret

So everyone seems to know the name of Australian born Julian Assange. Countless news articles have been written about him – type Julian Assange news into Google and about 51, 900, 000 results are returned. Not bad but who is he and what does he represent?

WikiLeaks gained international attention with the release of confidential military information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently, however media coverage has centered on the ongoing extradition battle surrounding sexual assault charges in Sweden. Assange and his supports claim that this is simply a rouge to silence him and for the United States to be able to extradite him to the US to face charges of espionage and conspiracy where he faces the possible death penalty.

The Assange issue has even been debated inAustralian parliament regarding the responsibility of the government for insisting that fair and due process of the law regarding his extradition to Sweden from Britain and potential subsequent  extradition form Sweden to the USA.

The Sydney Morning Herald news site reports that Australian Diplomatic cables  reveal ‘Wikileaks is the target of an “unprecedented” US government criminal investigation’  and that the Australian Government  wants t be forewarned about any extradition moves to the USA.

Assange claims that "exposing government secrets leads to greater freedom". In a recent statement by Assange after having spent six months in the Ecuadorian embassy, states that it is "from the revelation of truth that all else follows...that true democracy is the resistance of people, armed with the truth, against lies...everyday, ordinary people teach us that democracy is free speech and dissent' 

Sex, Lies and Julian Assange, a documentary by ABC Australia, explores the circumstances surrounding the case and claims to 'get to te heart of a bizzarre tale of international cat and mouse'. 

Public opinion is divided - everyone has a different opinion on the man - whistleblower, activist, terrorist or hacktivist. In my household we have two opposing views, one is that of an irresponsible man and organisation that has put at risk the lives of many through irresponsible leakage of classified material and the opposing that he and WikiLeaks are doing good by exposing the information and holding governments accountable to the people for their actions.  Regardless of opinion one thing seems clear and that is the Assange story is not going to disappear anytime soon.

Social media has reinvented social activism giving rise to greater ease fior the people to collaboratively voice their concerns (Gladwell, 2010). Social media tools enable social movements to gain momentum with incredible spread and across a greater geographic range than previously experienced with traditional activism methods. More and more we are seeing the people hold governments accountable and the message is spreading through social media tools. People Power II in the Philippines in 2001 saw the people for the first time in history bring about the removal of a nations leader through social media tools. President Joseph Estrada was facing charges of corruption and mismanagement in the Senate and was already unpoular amongst the Filipino people. Filipinos were outraged when television broadcasts announced that 11 senators had voted against unsealing evidence that would convict the president. In the five days that followed the people rallied to the cause  (through SMS messages) resulting in Estrada's resignation, Cabinet members abandoning their posts and the military siding with the people  (Joyce 2010).

Corruption between local Chinese government officials and building contractors were exposed after the 2008 Sichuan. Grieving parents of children who had died as a result of substandard school buildings protested with images and open criticism appearing on websites forced the government to acknowledge in a post earthquake report that many schools around the country were poorly constructed (Shirkey 2011).

I don't know about you, but for me personally, I am liking this modern world. I want corruption and government wrongdoing's exposed. I want governments and corporations to be held accountable to the people. I think that democracy and the world as we hade previously known is evolving, technology has enabled us to be more aware of worldwide events (in real time). Technology and social media has made it simpler and easier for us to be informed and to inform others. I dont want to be a mushroom - kept in the dark and fed well you know what.

References

Gladwell, M. 2010. why the revolution will not be retweeted. Available: http://www.thenewyorker.com. viewed 2 January 2012
Shirkey, C. 2011. The political power of social media: technology, the public sphere, and political change.(Essay)(Essay). Foreign Affairs, 90, 28. Available  http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CA250886159&v=2.1&u=swinburne1&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1  viewed 2 January 2012

Joyce, M. C. (ed) 2010, Digital activism decoded, International Debate Education Association ,New York, 

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~sjm217/papers/digiact10all.pdf

People Power II Image, http://balibago.tripod.com/bigfront_inquirer.jpg