We Need More Wikileaks

Wikileaks, the anonymous whistle-blowing internet site. www.wikileaks.org Cryptome: Skepticism, not paranoia, about the Internet and digital communication is self-protective because their managers and operators are inaccessible to public scrutiny under claims of secrecy and confidentiality, and are therefore publicly unaccountable. In their favor, the Internet and digital communication can be beneficial to share information and opinions for discussion and critique by participants, but should be viewed skeptically when consuming services, products, authority, authenticity, trustworthiness and reputability. Nothing new in this, skepticism about secret authority is an ancient counter to abuse of privilege and trust. Whistleblowing, which has many open and surreptitious forms other than leaks, should be seen as a necessary opposition to increasing secrecy and confidentiality in government, commerce and biased institutions; the practice should be encouraged as a civic responsibility; it should be varied and widespread around the world; it should be independent of government, commerce and biased institutions. In its best form, it is performed by individuals in all their great variety and ingenuity of imagination, communication, argumentation and conviction without intervention by interest-biased mediators. For this, the Internet is a grand, wild experiment which will always be threatened by unaccountable managers, censorship, contamination, exploitation, takeover, even takedown …