 |
| source : forum.warthunder.com |
Julian Assange & what has become of WikiLeaks fascinate
me. I personally see him as a hactivist, someone who has used his cleverness to
unveil political secrets that are wrong and unjust. Sure he has also committed
an unjust action of snooping where he shouldn’t be but which action is worse, his hacking or what’s being uncovered..?
Julian Assange ultimately just wants to create a sense of
transparency and he is using WikiLeaks to do this. The WikiLeaks website quotes
:
“We believe that it is not only the people of one country
that keep their own government honest, but also the people of other countries
who are watching that government through the media”
As discussed in
the article by Bertot.2010.
The combination of e-government, social
media, Web-enabled
technologies, mobile technologies,
transparency policy initiatives, and
citizen desire for open and transparent
government are fomenting
a new age of opportunity that has the
potential to create open, transparent,
efficient, effective, and user-centered information and communication
technology-enabled services.
Transparency is the key word here.
 |
| source : venezuelanalysis.com |
Social media is allowing the public to break down the barriers and
play a major role in reducing government corruption. The WikiLeaks website allows you ‘the source’ to anonymously
send information via a discreet electronic drop box. This information is then
assessed by the WikiLeaks journalists and re-written & published on the
website for all to see.
 |
| source: crankpunk.com |
Jenkins view of participatory culture relates greatly with WikiLeaks. Jenkin’s
idea of participatory culture is that citizens and public should not only
be consumers but to also produce and contribute also. Citizens are clearly
contributing to WikiLeaks and these contributions are coming from anonymous
people weather internal or public.
Obviously the other side of this is seeing Julian Assange as
a wanted man, and with numerous hackers trying to bring down the WikiLeaks
organisation. He has been compared to a terrorist for his actions and was
wanted killed by government organisations and charged for espionage. Although this is still being fought in a legal battle.
I would imagine the future of WikiLeaks to continue to grow
stronger with more anonymous contributions and more scandals being uncovered.
However from this strength the political landscape may become even less
transparent due to fear of just how many people could potentially access
information through WikiLeaks and social media especially if gone viral.
I will leave you with an interesting you tube video I
stumbled across which shows Assange opening singers M.I.A.’s New York Concert
in November 2013. He was skyping live from hiding in the Ecuadorian Embassy and
speaking to hundreds of MIA’s fans.
Now that’s a way to get your voice heard !
Daniela Gibbons
References & Further Reading
- Bekri D et all, Harnessing Social Media Tools to Fight Corruption 2011, London School of Economics and Political Science, prepared for Transparency International.
- Bertot C John, Jaeger T Paul, Grimes M Justin, Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies, Government Information Quarterly, Volume 27, Issue 3, July 2010, Pages 264-271, ISSN 0740-624X.
-
Jenkins, H 2013, What Do We Know About Participatory Cultures: An Interview with Aaron Delwiche and Jennifer Jacobs Henderson (Part Two), Confessions of an Aka-Fan, viewed 6 January 2014.
Hi Daniela,
ReplyDeleteI really believe that Julian Assange will continue to promote actions of activism as he has quite a following. The video you provided was very interesting, if the sense that Youth seems to respect him and want him to continue in his mission.
He’s quite a stubborn person and this will keep him 'alive and kicking'.
Cheers,
Elisabetta
Hi Daniela,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elisabetta, he definitely has a strong following and will continue to encourage activism regardless of his location. It is very interesting to know that every day people could potentially uncover something and send it via a secure drop box to Wikileaks. The power of social media is clearly evident! Great post :)
Regards, Frances