Wikileaks: Freedom Fighter Or Lawbreaker?

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organisation that publishes leaked documents, often exposing state and corporate secrets. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.

WikiLeaks has faced legal issues in several countries, including the US, Australia, and Europe. In the US, the organisation has been investigated for violating the Espionage Act of 1917, which makes it illegal to collect or communicate information that would harm national defence.

In 2010, the US Justice Department began a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks and Assange, and the NSA added Assange to its 'Manhunting Timeline'. However, the US government has never successfully prosecuted anyone other than a government employee for disseminating unlawfully leaked classified information.

In 2017, WikiLeaks guessed the password to a website set up by multi-millionaire Rob Glaser, putintrump.org, and tweeted about it. Legal experts have suggested that this act may have been illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), but WikiLeaks has not been charged.

WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the Espionage Act of 1917

The U.S. government has never successfully prosecuted anyone other than a government employee for disseminating unlawfully leaked classified information. Thus, the Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality of such a prosecution. The closest the Court has come to examining the issue is the famous Pentagon Papers case, New York Times v. United States, when the Court rejected the government’s attempt to prevent The New York Times and The Washington Post from publishing a leaked copy of a top-secret study of the Vietnam War.

The question of whether WikiLeaks' publication of classified information violated the Espionage Act of 1917 is complicated. On the one hand, WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have hurt the United States and benefited a foreign country. On the other hand, WikiLeaks may have been acting as a journalist, which is protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether the First Amendment protects the publication of classified information.

Some have argued that WikiLeaks' publication of classified information is protected by the First Amendment. They argue that the First Amendment protects the publication of information, even if it is classified. They also argue that WikiLeaks was acting as a journalist and is therefore protected by the First Amendment.

Others have argued that WikiLeaks' publication of classified information is not protected by the First Amendment. They argue that the First Amendment does not protect the publication of classified information. They also argue that WikiLeaks was not acting as a journalist and is therefore not protected by the First Amendment.

The question of whether WikiLeaks' publication of classified information violated the Espionance Act of 1917 is a complex legal issue. It involves issues of national security, free speech, and the role of the press. It is unclear how the courts will ultimately rule on this issue.

WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, who has described WikiLeaks as an "activist organisation" with "the goal [of] justice" and "the heart and soul of this organisation". WikiLeaks has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources, including footage of the 2007 Baghdad airstrike, thousands of US military field logs from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and emails and diplomatic cables from various governments.

WikiLeaks has been praised for exposing state and corporate secrets, increasing transparency, assisting freedom of the press, and enhancing democratic discourse while challenging powerful institutions. However, it has also faced significant criticism and legal issues.

In particular, there has been debate about whether WikiLeaks' publication of classified information violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice and/or the Espionage Act of 1917. Some believe that WikiLeaks can be prosecuted under these laws for distributing classified information, while others argue that this would violate the First Amendment and journalistic freedom.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice is a set of laws that govern the US military. It includes provisions related to the handling of classified information, and US Army Private Bradley Manning (now known as Chelsea Manning) was charged with violating this code when they provided WikiLeaks with classified information and footage. Manning was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison, although this sentence was later commuted, and they were released after serving seven years.

The Espionage Act of 1917 makes it a crime to communicate or publish information that could harm national defence or benefit a foreign country. While this act has been used to prosecute government employees for leaking classified information, it has never been successfully used to prosecute non-government employees or journalists. However, in the aftermath of the WikiLeaks disclosures, there were efforts to amend the Espionage Act to make it easier to prosecute individuals for publishing classified information. These efforts included the introduction of two bills in Congress: the Securing Human Intelligence and Enforcing Lawful Dissemination Act and the Espionage Statutes Modernization Act.

The debate around WikiLeaks and the publication of classified information is complex and ongoing. It raises important questions about the balance between government secrecy and transparency, national security, and freedom of the press. While WikiLeaks has faced legal consequences for its actions, the organisation and its supporters continue to argue that their work is protected by the First Amendment and serves the public interest.

WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organisation that publishes leaked documents, often exposing state and corporate secrets. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012. WikiLeaks has been the subject of much controversy, with many critics accusing it of inadequately curating content and violating personal privacy.

WikiLeaks has published classified documents, including footage of the 2007 Baghdad airstrike, US military field logs from the war in Afghanistan, and diplomatic cables from the United States and Saudi Arabia. It has also released emails from governments, including those of Syria and Turkey.

In 2010, WikiLeaks published a 2008 US military report that suggested a plan to expose WikiLeaks' sources and "destroy the centre of gravity" of the organisation. This was followed by a series of resignations of key members of WikiLeaks, including Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the German spokesman for WikiLeaks.

In 2013, WikiLeaks assisted Edward Snowden in leaving Hong Kong. In the same year, Julian Assange announced the creation of the WikiLeaks counterintelligence unit, which aimed to "counter threats against investigative journalism and the public's right to know."

WikiLeaks has faced allegations of association with the Russian government, particularly during the 2016 US Presidential election. It has also been criticised for making misleading claims about the contents of its leaks, including the Stratfor email leak, the AKP emails, and Vault 7.

WikiLeaks has been the target of campaigns to discredit it, including by Palantir and HBGary. It has also had its donation systems interrupted by payment processors.

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is a United States cybersecurity bill enacted in 1986. The CFAA was written to extend existing tort law to intangible property and limit federal jurisdiction to cases with a compelling federal interest. The Act has been amended several times, with each amendment extending the types of conduct that fell within its reach.

The CFAA defines "protected computers" as those used exclusively by the US government or financial institutions, or those used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or communication. In practice, any ordinary computer falls under the jurisdiction of the law, including cellphones, due to the interstate nature of most Internet communication.

The CFAA outlines several criminal offences, including accessing a computer without authorization, obtaining information from a protected computer, and trafficking in passwords.

WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the CFAA, as it involves accessing and obtaining information from protected computers. However, it is unclear whether WikiLeaks' actions would be considered a violation of the CFAA, as the organisation has not been prosecuted under this Act.

WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the law by entering an installation or obtaining a document connected to national defence

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources.

WikiLeaks has been the subject of much controversy and legal issues. In 2010, the US Justice Department began a criminal investigation of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange soon after the leak of diplomatic cables. The Washington Post reported that the department was considering charges under the Espionage Act of 1917, which makes it a crime to hurt the United States or benefit a foreign country by collecting or communicating information that would harm the national defence.

The Espionage Act of 1917 also makes it a crime to enter an installation or obtain a document connected to the national defence in order to hurt the United States or benefit a foreign country. Knowingly receiving classified information that has been obtained illegally, as well as passing it on, also runs afoul of the Espionage Act.

WikiLeaks allegedly obtained a video from a U.S. Army private named Bradley Manning, who is now in custody facing multiple charges, including violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Espionage Act, for giving WikiLeaks the video, in addition to hundreds of thousands of classified government documents that WikiLeaks later made public.

The US government has never successfully prosecuted anyone other than a government employee for disseminating unlawfully leaked classified information. However, there are two bills making their way through Congress to amend the Espionage Act in the aftermath of WikiLeaks, which some say would make it easier to prosecute journalists for publishing classified information.

WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the law by knowingly receiving classified information that has been obtained illegally

WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, who has described WikiLeaks as an "activist organisation" with the "method [being] transparency, the goal [being] justice".

WikiLeaks has been the subject of much controversy since its inception, with critics arguing that it has violated personal privacy and broken the law by publishing classified information.

In 2010, WikiLeaks published a trove of 251,287 diplomatic cables, exposing serious violations of human rights and civil liberties by various governments. The cables were provided by an anonymous source, thought to be US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was subsequently arrested and charged with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Espionage Act.

The US government has never successfully prosecuted anyone other than a government employee for disseminating unlawfully leaked classified information. However, there are laws that penalise the release of classified information, and these have generally been applied to government officials who leak information or give it to an enemy.

There are some provisions of the Espionage Act that might apply to WikiLeaks' actions. 18 U.S.C. 793 is about "gathering, transmitting, or losing defence information", and it criminalises the act of "obtaining" a document "connected with the national defence" if done "for the purpose of obtaining information respecting the national defence with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation." 18 U.S.C. 798 on classified information might also apply.

The Justice Department has also stated that it is exploring options other than the Espionage Act, including "conspiracy or trafficking in stolen property", under which to indict Julian Assange. This would involve looking at the levels of cooperation and encouragement between WikiLeaks and any government leakers; something more than the "small brown envelope" appearing on WikiLeaks' doorstep could be enough to say that a leaker and WikiLeaks are engaged in a criminal enterprise together.

In addition, there have been bills introduced in the House and Senate that would overtly criminalise the publication of the "names of military or intelligence community informants." These have been labelled as "anti-WikiLeaks" bills, but because they would specifically criminalise publication, they attack news organisations and WikiLeaks equally.

In conclusion, while WikiLeaks' publication of classified information may have violated the law, the organisation's exact legal status remains unclear and contested.

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