Presentation as part of WikiLeaks and Intellectual Freedom discussion at Brookfield Public Library (2/24/2011)

1. WikiLeaks :History & Context Michael Zimmer, PhD Center for Information Policy Research School of Information Studies UW-Milwaukee

2. www.wikileaks.ch

3. Origin Launched in 2006 (wikileaks.org) Originally launched as traditional “wiki” where users make live edits and commentary Later changed to more traditional format where people can submit information, but editors decide what to publish Founded by “Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and start-up company technologists, from the US, Taiwan, Europe, Australia and South Africa” Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its director Over 1.2 million documents in its first year

4. Purpose Original "primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behaviour in their governments and corporations.” http://web.archive.org/web/20080314204422/http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks:About Current “The broader principles on which our work is based are the defence of freedom of speech and media publishing, the improvement of our common historical record and the support of the rights of all people to create new history.” http://www.wikileaks.ch/About.html

5. Selected Releases Dec 2006: Apparent Somali assassination order Hoped that users would verify authenticity….never happened Guantanamo Bay operating procedures Secret 'bibles' of Scientology Scientology claimed copyright infringement; in response, WikiLeaks released several thousand additional pages Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account contents Climategateemails Internet censorship lists for Australia, Denmark, Thailand Bilderberg Group meeting reports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_published_by_WikiLeaks

6. July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike Series of three air-to-ground attacks conducted by a team of United States Army AH-64 Apache helicopters Nine men were killed, including two members of the media, who’s cameras were mistaken as weapons Two versions released: Full 39-minute version Edited 17-minute version, titled “Collateral Murder”

7. Afghan and Iraq War Logs 92,000 documents related to the war in Afghanistan 400,000 documents relating to the Iraq war Mostly raw field intelligence reports, detailing Mundane status reports, but also Civilian & friendly-fire casualties War crimes, psy-ops Influence of outside forces Criticized for endangering lives of local informants, as well as military personnel

8. United States diplomatic cables leak Starting in Nov 2010, daily release (80 per day) of detailed correspondence between the U.S. State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world Over 250,000 documents, detailing international affairs from 300 embassies dated from 1966–2010 containing diplomatic analysis of world leaders, an assessment of host countries, and a discussion about international and domestic issues Leaked from the U.S. SIPRNet, the U.S. Department of Defense’s classified version of the civilian internet

9. Reaction to “Cablegate” WikiLeaks experienced distributed denial of service attacks, attempting to bring down its website Various service providers cut ties DNS provider (making “wikileaks.org” unoperable) Amazon stopped hosting its website PayPal, MasterCard, and Visa stopped processing donations Air Force personnel were blocked from accessing website Twitter accounts subpoenaed “Anonymous” counter-attacked websites which were involved in censorship/disruption of Wikileaks

10. Challenge to Power WikiLeaks provides evidence of the exercise – and abuses – of power Exposes how power operates in the real world, on the ground Exposes hidden power relationships, and disrupts them Both in politics, and in media Protects sources from normal sanctions Has limited accountability or regulability

11. WikiLeaks is Not Neutral Has its own ideologies and motivations The broader principles on which our work is based are the defence of freedom of speech and media publishing, the improvement of our common historical record and the support of the rights of all people to create new history. But not all data is automatically made public Evaluates, parses, edits, and not transparently Negotiates relationships with (particular) media outlets Attempts to manage information flow Embroiled in own controversies re: Assange 1.4 GB “insurance file” of “embarrassing secret documents”

12. WikiLeaks :History & Context Michael Zimmer, PhD Center for Information Policy Research School of Information Studies UW-Milwaukee