WikiLeaks Continues to Post Classif

WikiLeaks Continues to Post Classified Materials
In September 2011, WikiLeaks (a nonprofit organization whose goal is to “bring important news and
information to the public”55 ) published more than 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables on its Web site.56
Included in this cache of private communications between employees of the U.S. Department of State were
requests made of U.S. diplomats serving in overseas embassies to gather intelligence information for the purpose
of espionage. Specifically, diplomats were tasked with collecting personal information on foreign officials
including email addresses, credit card numbers, and even frequent flier account numbers.57
These documents were made public less than a year after WikiLeaks’ monumental release of
approximately 400,000 top secret U.S. Army documents—a leak believed to be the largest in U.S. history.58 The
leaked Army documents purportedly uncovered instances in which American soldiers stood aside as the Iraqi
Shiite-dominated security forces tortured Sunni prisoners. The documents also allegedly disclosed an additional
unreported 15,000 civilian deaths during the Iraq War.59 This “document dump” was in fact the third major leak
of U.S. military secrets of 2010. In April, the organization had posted a video of U.S. Army helicopter carrying
out an operation in which civilians and two Reuters reporters were killed in Iraq. Then in July, Wiki- Leaks posted
92,000 military memos that supposedly confirmed that Pakistan’s intelligence agency regularly met with Taliban
fighters.60
The United States government, meanwhile, tried feverishly to prosecute WikiLeaks and prevent future
leaks. However, the First Amendment guarantees citizens freedom of the press and very few restrictions have
been permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The most notable instance of that judicial restraint is when President
Richard Nixon attempted to seek an injunction against the publication of the Pentagon Papers, containing military
secrets from the Vietnam War, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused.61 In 2010, the Congressional Research
Service issued a report in which they concluded that no publisher of leaked information has ever been prosecuted
for publishing the material, due to the implications for the First Amendment. As a result, the only legal action the
U.S. government could take was to charge an Army soldier, Bradley Manning, with violating the Espionage Act
for purportedly supplying WikiLeaks with the video of the helicopter and other classified documents. Prosecutors
plan to present classified documents in court to show that the terrorist group Al Qaeda has benefited from the
secret documents that Manning supplied WikiLeaks. Meanwhile, the judge has ruled that Manning, who was kept
naked in a windowless room for as long as 23 hours a day, was subject to confinement “more rigorous than
necessary” while he awaited his trial, which was scheduled to begin in the summer of 2013.62
Shortly after this third leak, several major Internet companies began to shut off services to WikiLeaks.
These included PayPal and Moneybookers, two sites that WikiLeaks’ supporters had used to contribute funds to
the organization.63 After massive denial-of-service attacks on Wiki- Leaks’ site, the organization moved to
Amazon servers.64 Within a couple of days, however, Amazon decided it would no longer host the site.65 The
following day, December 3, 2010, the American domain name system provider EveryDNS.net took the domain
offline. WikiLeaks supporters and volunteers responded immediately. Two days later, 208 WikiLeaks mirror sites
were operating.66 On December 7, Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, was arrested in London at
about the same time on rape charges issued from Sweden.67 Assange fought extradition to Sweden and eventually
sought and found asylum in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Even from asylum, Assange continues to vex the
U.S. government, hosting a video conference at the United Nations on U.S. efforts to combat WikiLeaks.68
As this online and offline battle rages, the public and the media have expressed a range of views. Many
argued that WikiLeaks has endangered national security. Others staunchly defended WikiLeaks and its freedom to
publish leaks. WikiLeaks came under criticism from human rights organizations and the international free press
group Reporters Without Borders. Thousands of documents contained the names of Afghan informants, whose
identity was now exposed and so could be targeted by the Taliban in reprisal for their collaboration. Assange’s
actions also provoked dissent within the WikiLeaks organization. Some Wiki-Leaks staff felt that Assange had
ignored hundreds of leaks from other regions of the world, in order to target the U.S. government. About half-adozen
staffers resigned in the months after Assange was charged with rape.69 These staffers called attention to an
important point. Wiki- Leaks’ Facebook page claims “Our primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in
Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East….” Yet the overwhelming majority of its
documents released in 2010 targeted one of the largest and most stable democracies
in the world, the United States.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’ very public leader, states that his objective is to establish a new standard of
scientific journalism. He has published WikiLeaks’ analysis of source material along with the source material
itself, so that the readers themselves can come to their own conclusions. 70 Yet like other media sources, he, his
staff, and his volunteers choose which sources to share, and this choice is colored by their own ideology and
purposes. What these are, however, is difficult to ascertain. While WikiLeaks advocates for transparency in
government and corporations, uncovering their secrets, the organization itself is far from transparent, keeping the
identity of most of its members and contributors secret. The organization relies on a few staffers and hundreds of
volunteers from around the world. Key volunteers are known by their initials only, even within encrypted online
chats.71 Hence, the question of WikiLeaks’ bias or motivation or ultimate purpose cannot be definitively
resolved.
In the summer of 2012, WikiLeaks posted over two million emails documenting communication between
Syrian government officials and private companies. WikiLeaks claims on its homepage that these documents
showed that Western companies supported the Syrian government, which has killed thousands of civilians in a
brutal civil war.72 Clearly, WikiLeaks would like to portray itself as an advocate for civil liberties and human
rights. However, it is as yet unclear what the political ramifications of its leaks will be, and whether the leaks will
have a positive or negative impact on democratic governments around the world.
Discussion Questions
1. How does the First Amendment protect WikiLeaks from prosecution?
2. Is WikiLeaks justified in releasing Syrian government emails? Is this different from posting classified U.S.
documents?
3. What limits, if any, should be placed on WikiLeaks’ right to post government or corporate secrets?

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

WikiLeaks Continues to Post Classified MaterialsIn September 2011, WikiLeaks (a nonprofit organization whose goal is to “bring important news andinformation to the public”55 ) published more than 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables on its Web site.56Included in this cache of private communications between employees of the U.S. Department of State wererequests made of U.S. diplomats serving in overseas embassies to gather intelligence information for the purposeof espionage. Specifically, diplomats were tasked with collecting personal information on foreign officialsincluding email addresses, credit card numbers, and even frequent flier account numbers.57These documents were made public less than a year after WikiLeaks’ monumental release ofapproximately 400,000 top secret U.S. Army documents—a leak believed to be the largest in U.S. history.58 Theleaked Army documents purportedly uncovered instances in which American soldiers stood aside as the IraqiShiite-dominated security forces tortured Sunni prisoners. The documents also allegedly disclosed an additionalunreported 15,000 civilian deaths during the Iraq War.59 This “document dump” was in fact the third major leakof U.S. military secrets of 2010. In April, the organization had posted a video of U.S. Army helicopter carryingout an operation in which civilians and two Reuters reporters were killed in Iraq. Then in July, Wiki- Leaks posted92.000 memo militer yang seharusnya dikonfirmasi bahwa badan intelijen Pakistan secara teratur bertemu dengan TalibanFighters.60Pemerintah Amerika Serikat, sementara itu, mencoba tergesa-gesa untuk menuntut WikiLeaks dan mencegah masa depankebocoran. Namun, amandemen pertama menjamin warga kebebasan pers dan memiliki sedikit pembatasantelah diizinkan oleh Mahkamah Agung AS. Contoh paling terkenal pengekangan peradilan itu adalah ketika PresidenRichard Nixon berusaha mencari sebuah perintah terhadap publikasi Pentagon Papers, yang mengandung militerrahasia dari Perang Vietnam, dan refused.61 Mahkamah Agung AS pada tahun 2010, penelitian KongresLayanan mengeluarkan laporan di mana mereka menyimpulkan bahwa penerbit tidak bocor informasi telah pernah dituntutuntuk mempublikasikan materi, karena implikasi amandemen pertama. Sebagai hasilnya, hanya hukum tindakanPemerintah AS dapat mengambil untuk biaya tentara soldier, Bradley Manning, dengan melanggar UU Spionaseuntuk memasok konon WikiLeaks dengan video helikopter dan lain diklasifikasikan dokumen. Jaksaberencana untuk menyediakan dokumen-dokumen rahasia di pengadilan untuk menunjukkan bahwa kelompok teroris Al Qaeda telah mendapatkan manfaat daridokumen-dokumen rahasia bahwa Manning disediakan WikiLeaks. Sementara itu, hakim telah memutuskan bahwa Manning, yang disimpantelanjang di jendela ruang kamar selama 23 jam sehari, adalah tunduk pada pembatasan "lebih ketat daripadadiperlukan"sementara dia menunggu persidangan, yang dijadwalkan untuk mulai pada musim panas 2013.62Tak lama setelah bocor ketiga ini, beberapa perusahaan Internet mulai menutup layanan untuk WikiLeaks.Ini termasuk PayPal dan Moneybookers, dua situs yang WikiLeaks' pendukung telah digunakan untuk menyumbangkan dana untukorganization.63 setelah serangan denial-of-service besar situs Wiki - bocor, organisasi pindah keAmazon servers.64 dalam beberapa hari, namun, Amazon memutuskan ini akan tidak lagi menjadi tuan rumah site.65setelah hari, 3 Desember 2010, penyedia sistem nama domain Amerika EveryDNS.net mengambil domainoffline. WikiLeaks pendukung dan relawan merespon segera. Situs cermin dua hari kemudian, 208 WikiLeaksyang operating.66 pada tanggal 7 Desember, Julian Assange, editor-in-chief dari WikiLeaks, ditangkap di London disekitar waktu yang sama atas tuduhan perkosaan yang dikeluarkan dari Sweden.67 Assange berjuang ekstradisi ke Swedia dan akhirnyamencari dan menemukan suaka di Ekuador Kedutaan di London. Bahkan dari suaka, Assange terus menyusahkanPemerintah AS, hosting konferensi video di Perserikatan Bangsa-bangsa pada upaya-upaya AS untuk memerangi WikiLeaks.68Sebagai pertempuran ini online dan offline mengamuk, publik dan media mengungkapkan berbagai pandangan. Banyakberpendapat bahwa WikiLeaks telah terancam keamanan nasional. Orang lain dengan kukuh mempertahankan WikiLeaks dan kebebasan untukmempublikasikan kebocoran. WikiLeaks datang di bawah kritik dari organisasi hak asasi manusia dan kebebasan pers internasionalkelompok Reporters Without Borders. Ribuan dokumen berisi nama-nama Afghan informan, yangidentitas sekarang terkena dan jadi dapat ditargetkan oleh Taliban di pembalasan untuk kolaborasi mereka. Assange'stindakan ini juga memicu perbedaan pendapat dalam organisasi WikiLeaks. Beberapa staf Wiki-kebocoran merasa bahwa Assange punyaratusan kebocoran dari daerah lain di dunia, untuk menargetkan pemerintah AS yang diabaikan. Tentang setengah-adozenStaf mengundurkan diri di bulan-bulan setelah Assange didakwa dengan rape.69 ini staf yang perhatiantitik penting. Halaman Facebook wiki - bocor klaim "kepentingan utama dalam mengungkap rezim-rezim yang menindas diAsia, bekas blok Soviet, sub-Sahara Afrika dan Timur Tengah..." Namun mayoritas yangdokumen-dokumen yang dirilis pada 2010 ditargetkan salah satu terbesar dan paling stabil demokrasidi dunia, Amerika Serikat.Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' pemimpin sangat umum, menyatakan bahwa itu tujuannya adalah untuk menetapkan standar barujurnalisme ilmiah. Dia telah menerbitkan WikiLeaks' analisis bahan sumber bersama dengan bahan sumberitu sendiri, sehingga para pembaca sendiri dapat datang ke kesimpulan mereka sendiri. 70 belum seperti sumber-sumber media lain, dia, nyastaf dan relawan memilih sumber-sumber yang untuk berbagi, dan pilihan ini diwarnai dengan ideologi mereka sendiri dantujuan. Apa yang ini adalah, bagaimanapun, sulit untuk memastikan. Sementara WikiLeaks pendukung untuk transparansi dalampemerintah dan perusahaan, mengungkap rahasia mereka, organisasi itu sendiri adalah jauh dari transparan, pemeliharaanidentitas dari sebagian besar anggota dan kontributor rahasia. Organisasi bergantung pada beberapa staf dan ratusanrelawan dari seluruh dunia. Kunci relawan dikenal dengan inisial mereka saja, bahkan di dalam dienkripsi onlinechats.71 oleh karena itu, pertanyaan WikiLeaks' bias atau motivasi atau tujuan akhir tidak dapat pastidiselesaikan.Di musim panas 2012, WikiLeaks dikirim lebih dari dua juta email mendokumentasikan komunikasi antaraPejabat pemerintah Suriah dan perusahaan swasta. WikiLeaks klaim pada homepage yang dokumen-dokumen inimenunjukkan bahwa perusahaan-perusahaan Barat didukung pemerintah Suriah, yang telah membunuh ribuan warga sipil diwar.72 sipil yang brutal jelas, WikiLeaks ingin menggambarkan dirinya sebagai advokat bagi kebebasan sipil dan manusiahak. Namun, itu tidak belum jelas apa yang akan konsekuensi politik yang kebocoran, dan apakah akan kebocoranmemiliki dampak positif atau negatif pada pemerintah demokratis di seluruh dunia.Pertanyaan-pertanyaan diskusi1. Bagaimana amandemen pertama melindungi WikiLeaks dari penuntutan?2. Apakah WikiLeaks dibenarkan dalam melepaskan pemerintah Suriah email? Ini berbeda dari posting diklasifikasikan U.S.dokumen?3. apa batas, jika ada, harus ditempatkan pada WikiLeaks' hak untuk posting pemerintah atau rahasia perusahaan?