The backlash to the WikiLeaks release of United States' diplomatic wires by many political figures and talking heads has been harsh, at best (at worst, it has been reckless and violent). Despite being convicted of no crimes, WikiLeaks has had its funds frozen from its bank in Switzerland, and its post office box closed in Australia. The company PayPal, which had previously been processing Wikileaks' donations, has refused to continue to support the organization and has dropped Wikileaks from its service. Apple has removed the Wikileaks Application from its App store. All around the world, Wikileaks is being condemned as a treacherous group, even being likened to a terrorist organization. Sarah Palin has suggested that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, "be hunted down like Osama Bin Laden [read: let him go]."
Meanwhile, Avaaz.org, your #1 source for petition-signing, is inviting citizens of the world to lend their voice to a cause- to stop the crackdown on WikiLeaks. The website asserts that:
The vicious intimidation campaign against WikiLeaks is a dangerous attack on freedom of expression and the press. Top US politicians have branded WikiLeaks a terrorist organization, and urged corporations to shut it down. Commentators have even suggested assassinating its staff.
Whatever we think of WikiLeaks, legal experts say it has likely broken no laws, and the group works with leading newspapers (NYT, Guardian, Spiegel) to carefully vet what it publishes - so far less than 1% of the cables leaked to it.
We urgently need a massive public outcry to defend our basic democratic freedoms. Sign the petition to stop the crackdown -- let's reach 1 million voices this week!
The petition has already been signed by over 600,000 people. Help get it to a million here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?slideshow
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