Julian Assange should go to jail and WikiLeaks shut down permanently. Discuss.
Julian Assange the founder of WikiLeaks has caused much chaos and speculation since, and I believe Julian Assange should be charged and arrested and most importantly WikiLeaks should be shut down permanently. WikiLeaks is a whistleblowing website that was founded by Julian Assange in 2006 (Wachter 2010). Its purpose was to provide whistle-blowers with a medium to publish their case to the general public and preserve their identity. The whistle-blowing website published tens of thousands of war records and the Pentagon had said it could cost the lives and damage the trust of allies by exposing U.S. intelligence gathering methods and names of Afghan contacts (Stewart 2010). There’s a moral culpability surrounding Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, is that they have put this out without any regard whatsoever for the consequences. The thought of innocent lives being threaten is no doubt morally and ethically wrong in the eyes of society. This essay will provide further incentives as to why Julian Assange should be jailed and WikiLeaks should be shut down permanently.
Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks have put pressure on the National Security: and should be arrested for such serious actions. Assange has published tens of thousands of documents relating to national security issues, many of which are secret. It would not be surprising if the US government consider arresting him as Assange has done immense damage. It is morally wrong to take things that aren’t yours, and for Julian Assange’s case it is no different. These documents were private and for him to physically download these private documents and ultimately put lives in danger is a serious problem. Julian Assange’s organization has no doubt opened the possibility of endangering troops who are serving in Iraq, and no doubt I believe he should be charged on the basis of aiding and abetting terrorist. With the power of the internet today, even terrorist are able to access this information and possibly target innocent troops, this no doubt leads to why WikiLeaks should be shutdown permanently. The US attorney-General has revealed that his government are working hard to bring down Assange on the basis of espionage. ‘Sources in Washington have revealed that US investigators are exploring the possibility of charging Mr Assange, the site’s editor, and others under the century-old Espionage Act, and that they could face decades in jail’ (Sydney Morning Herald 2010). The lives and the state of national security that Julian Assange has jeopardised are blatant as to why he should be put in jail.
Assange publishing the private documents assigns credibility to it and this is why Julian Assange should be arrested. People trust WikiLeaks, in a way that the US government has seen this as a serious offence and have not taken WikiLeaks lightly, shows that WikiLeaks is no sham. In saying this, Assange has knowingly published what he deemed to know as top-secret classified data and in doing so has committee an offense. WikiLeaks is a trusted information resource. While the contents of these reports were plausibly fragmented all over the internet for some time, Wiki-leaks assigned reliability/credibility to this information and its founder therefore is responsible for the leak as a threat to national/international security. He is responsible for converting rumour to perceived fact. Julian Assange being arrested will show the other people who are responsible for contributing to WikiLeaks that action will be taken and not taken lightly.
The hard work and progress made by US against the waging war in Iraq may be compromised by WikiLeaks, making it crucial to shut down the site permanently. ‘WikiLeaks is not a news organization; it is a criminal enterprise. Its reason for existence is to obtain classified national security information and disseminate it as widely as possible -- including to the United States'
