WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in Britain after an international warrant was issued for him last week, London’s Metropolitan Police said. – ABC News
I’m sure that there are many points of view regarding WikiLeaks and its recently arrested founder Julian Assange. Some believe that releasing previously confidential documents will aid in openness and accountability. They would say that we as the people of democratic countries have the right to know what our elected governments are doing. Others are going as far as saying that publishing classified military documents online amounts to treason and that lives have been put at risk.
What do you think? Can there even be a simple answer or are you still unsure what to think of the revelations that have hit the internet and our news services recently?
Well over 500 mirror sites have already been created for WikiLeaks so the information being released isn’t about to go away any time soon.
Closer to home
The whole situation has me thinking a little closer to home. Do we have the right to know everything? Are there reasons that things should be kept from us? If so, who should make the decision about what is out in the open and what is kept confidential?
Should we expect to know everything that goes on in our workplace, even when it doesn’t concern us? Should boards of management, CEOs and others in senior positions reveal everything about their dealings with everyone inside and even outside the company? Would you be happy to have your employment records and complete pay details online for all to see? I imagine that it wouldn’t bother some people but others would find it a little more concerning.
It seems interesting to me that at the same time that many are calling for greater privacy there is a great deal of support to reveal government details. There was a huge uproar when people felt that Facebook didn’t regard their privacy highly enough. Now we want to expose private conversations between heads of state which may have far greater consequences.
Caught in between
To be honest, I’m caught in between. I think there should be a great deal of openness and accountability within government, especially when those governments are acting on our behalf, but on the other hand, I think there’s a lot to be said for electing a government and then handing over the responsibility of government to those we have chosen to represent us.
Getting personal
Making it even more personal, I’m glad that every conversation I have, every email I write and every thought that goes through my mind isn’t splashed across the web. I try to keep my conversations honourable but I know that sometimes I mess up and say things that should never have left my lips. I’m glad that some people don’t hear those words. When I’m writing emails I do my best to be careful with what I say but I must admit that I have, on occasion, sent emails which have been less than helpful. When it comes to my thoughts …. I’m ashamed at what goes through my mind at times. I’m glad that between the time I think about something and the time I act on my thoughts I have the opportunity to censor myself and filter my reactions.
I’m glad that every thought, word and deed by every person isn’t displayed around the world. I believe we all need to be careful about the way we conduct ourselves in public or in private. We need accountability. We need transparency and openness. But I’m wondering if in calling for confidential details of government conversations to become public property, we’re holding others to a standard we would refuse to be held to ourselves.
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Julian Assange is, in the words of countless proverbs of Solomon, a fool. And an egotistical, self-righteous one at that.
Some secrets are kept for our own good. Leaders have a right to keep some things confidential. We don’t have the perspective that they have on some of these things and they need to have the ability to keep conversations and plans confidential and to reveal them when the time is right, not when some fool wants to publish what has been wrongly leaked to him.
There’s the issue of gossip, too. Gossip is wrong on a personal level and it’s wrong on an international level too. Much of what has been passed on to the public is simple gossip. It won’t change the course of the world, but it will change the way that we think about some of these leaders and that’s wrong.