Friday, December 10, 2010

What I think of Wikileaks

Julian Assange should not be prosecuted for leaking information that some government officials prefer to keep secret. I think many governments have gone overboard about what should be kept secret and what should not. I would love to know what has been agreed behind closed doors to allow the Myki and the desalination plant projects to be given such generous terms to the companies awarded the contracts. In the name of "official secrets", the public has been deliberately kept ignorant to suit the convenience of those in power. Many deals with private companies have been declared state secret by the now-deposed Brumby government.

Australia has gone even further by enacting privacy laws to provide secrecy to criminals after they have been released from jail. You don't know if your new neighbour is an ex-pedophile or a released murderer. I would be happy to see every hardcore criminal be named and identified publicly in Wikileaks for the protection of everyone else.

Should anyone be prosecuted for finding out another person's secret? If you have a secret, it is up to you and you alone to protect it. If another person manages to find out about your secret, you cannot take the person to court, can you? Why should Wikileaks be any different? The government in the developed countries who are supposed to champion freedom of the press are also at the forefront now to shut down Wikileaks. Judging by their panic reaction to Wikileaks, my guess is that most state secrets are just dirt that certain politicians prefer you and I not to know about.

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