Image via WikipediaFreedom of expression is a much valued concept. Strongly associated with this is freedom of press. This concept, much beloved of democratic governments, is being tested to the limit thanks to Wikileaks. This was a much lauded site that was doing sterling service for the cause of freedom everywhere until of course it started releasing material that had been classified by the US (or as some people like to put it "the Powers That Be"). At this point, suddenly Wikileaks became an evil organization. The way the Americans have reacted, one would imagine that this was the end of civilization as we know it. Barbarians are storming the gate!Yet if one actually starts to go through the material released so far, the inescapable conclusion is that this is a storm in a teacup. I have gone through some of the material on the Wikileaks site and read the analysis published in the press. The vast majority of the cables are completely innocuous. One cable I read described a wedding and this was classified as secret! Not only is this secrecy run amok, this is actually insane. One of the key requirements of democracy is an informed citizenry. Classifying material secret regardless of their actual provenance diminishes democracy by making the citizenry less informed and thus less liable to judge material that affects them often vitally on its merits. It is for this reason that one of the first steps of totalitarianism is to restrict information and freedom of information.
Wikileaks has done the world a tremendous service by releasing this information. By shining a bright light on activities that a lot of people would prefer remain dark, it has become harder to indulge in nefarious activities. These are the kinds of activities that eventually generate violent reactions - what is known euphemistically as blow-back. That in turn will hopefully make for a less violent, saner and (dare I say it) a more equitable world.
No comments:
Post a Comment