Communications of the ACM
Is Wikileaks Too Full of Itself?
Does Julian Assange believe his own hype?
Bertil Ericson / AFP-Getty Images
Have the activists behind WikiLeaks—and in particular the Web site's founder, Julian Assange—become intoxicated by their own myth? Two recent events involving the now internationally watched Assange and the Web site seem to indicate that this is the case.
WikiLeaks proclaims lofty goals. "Since July 2007, we have worked across the globe to obtain, publish and defend [sensitive] materials, and, also, to fight in the legal and political spheres for the broader principles on which our work is based: the integrity of our common historical record and the rights of all peoples to create new history.
We believe that transparency in government activities leads to reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies." The personal aims proclaimed by Assange, WikiLeaks' floppy-haired face to the world, are even more grandiose: "I enjoy creating systems on a grand scale, and I enjoy helping people who are vulnerable. And I enjoy crushing bastards," Assange told the German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview last month.
From Newsweek
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