Case Study: WikiLeaks published more than 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables in September 2011, which included requests made by diplomats to gather intelligence information for espionage. This was the third major leak of military secrets of 2010, and the United States government tried to prosecute WikiLeaks and prevent future leaks. However, the First Amendment guarantees citizens freedom of the press and very few restrictions have been permitted by the Supreme Court. The Congressional Research Service concluded that no publisher of leaked information has ever been prosecuted for publishing the material, and the only legal action the U.S. government could take was to charge an Army soldier, Bradley Manning, with violating the Espionage Act for purportedly supplying WikiLeaks with the video of the helicopter and other classified documents. After this third leak, several major Internet companies began to shut off services to WikiLeaks, and the organization moved to Amazon servers, but Amazon decided to no longer host the site. Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, was arrested in London on rape charges issued from Sweden and sought asylum in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Despite this, Assange continues to vex the US government by hosting a videoconference at the United Nations. WikiLeaks has faced criticism from human rights organizations and the international free press group Reporters Without Borders, and its actions have provoked dissent within the organization. However, WikiLeaks' primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and the overwhelming majority of its documents released in 2010 targeted one of the largest and most stable democracies in the world, the United States. Julian Assange has published WikiLeaks' analysis of source material along with the source material itself, so that readers can come to their own conclusions. WikiLeaks advocates for transparency in government and corporations, but is far from transparent, keeping the identity of its members and contributors secret. In 2012, it posted over two million emails documenting Syrian government officials and private companies, claiming they showed that Western companies supported the Syrian government. It is unclear what the political ramifications of its leaks will be, and whether they will have a positive or negative impact on democratic governments. What are the problems and the most important issues in this case?
Case Study: WikiLeaks published more than 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables in September 2011, which included requests made by diplomats to gather intelligence information for espionage. This was the third major leak of military secrets of 2010, and the United States government tried to prosecute WikiLeaks and prevent future leaks. However, the First Amendment guarantees citizens freedom of the press and very few restrictions have been permitted by the Supreme Court. The Congressional Research Service concluded that no publisher of leaked information has ever been prosecuted for publishing the material, and the only legal action the U.S. government could take was to charge an Army soldier, Bradley Manning, with violating the Espionage Act for purportedly supplying WikiLeaks with the video of the helicopter and other classified documents. After this third leak, several major Internet companies began to shut off services to WikiLeaks, and the organization moved to Amazon servers, but Amazon decided to no longer host the site. Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, was arrested in London on rape charges issued from Sweden and sought asylum in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Despite this, Assange continues to vex the US government by hosting a videoconference at the United Nations. WikiLeaks has faced criticism from human rights organizations and the international free press group Reporters Without Borders, and its actions have provoked dissent within the organization. However, WikiLeaks' primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and the overwhelming majority of its documents released in 2010 targeted one of the largest and most stable democracies in the world, the United States. Julian Assange has published WikiLeaks' analysis of source material along with the source material itself, so that readers can come to their own conclusions. WikiLeaks advocates for transparency in government and corporations, but is far from transparent, keeping the identity of its members and contributors secret. In 2012, it posted over two million emails documenting Syrian government officials and private companies, claiming they showed that Western companies supported the Syrian government. It is unclear what the political ramifications of its leaks will be, and whether they will have a positive or negative impact on democratic governments.
What are the problems and the most important issues in this case?
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