Wikileaks – Angel or Devil in disguise?

Founded in late 2006 wikikeaks has revolutionised the concept of whistle-blowers, the organisation has caused controversy and shocked the world more times than I can remember.

The question which really needs to be answered is whether Wikileaks has done more harm than good or whether it is a necessary source for society. Wikileaks is a source that keeps people informed, in the loop and educated, yet a source that must not always be trusted.

Wikileaks says their goal is to: "bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists"

When private information has been revealed governments often justify their actions by simply stating that the reason why the information has not been revealed is because it is a ‘national security’ threat!

However citizens seem to hold a different point of view to the government, as Dreyfus et al said in 2011:

“nothing in government should be kept secret from the citizenry unless there is a real reason for doing so”

So what are the positives behind wikileaks? It empowers citizens in corrupt countries and most importantly Wikileaks reveals wrongdoing that would most likely be left undiscovered.

One of the most famous reveals Wikileaks carried out was the ‘Collateral Murder’ whereby US soldier were captured indiscriminately firing on civilians. The Collateral Murder was disjointedly covered up by the pentagon and it poses the question as to how much more information is being with held from world.

How much is too much information and does going forward as a society require transparency? These are all questions, which result in a variety of answers and opinions. The increased use of computerization has resulted in instant information, leaving less time for people to react. If society embraces transparency then maybe people will be more prepared for shocking information such as crashing of the financial market.

There is no denying that Wikileaks has proved to be a beneficial source however that is not always the case. Wikileaks is not always viewed as the knight in shining armor and the information revealed really should come down to whether or not the information is in the public’s interest.