The Power of Truth

The whistle-blowing organization Wikileaks has come under intense pressure recently in what is quickly and globally becoming an information battlefield. Wikileaks is being fervently cast away by various internet servers in Europe as well as in the U.S. It 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. 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]"

These actions and statements from governments, private companies, and talking heads are an astounding denial and rejection of what Wikileaks ultimately stands to represent- the truth. The organization is being bombarded with hatred and fear, because officials are terrified of what it might reveal. As activist Naomi Klein stated today via her twitter account, "Few societies have defended their own ignorance as aggressively or as enthusiastically as ours."

And indeed, the general response to the leaked documents from Wikileaks has been aggressive and intense. The organization is being censored on the internet, cut off from its funds, even cut off from its mail, though it has not been subpoenaed or convicted of any crime. This is simply a not-for-profit organization that was simply making information available to the public- information that is pertinent to our lives and that we therefor have a right to access.

But there is growing support for the organization as well, with movements such as I am Wikileaks springing up around social media websites. I am Wikileaks vows to continue providing an outlet for the whistle-blowers, should their censorship intensify. And Wikileaks itself has found something of a secure server for now. They can be found at http://www.wikileaks.ch/, and the CEO of the Swiss provider now hosting them has said that "Wikileaks should be treated like any of our other clients. We would only stop hosting them if they broke Swedish law or failed to pay their bills."

And Mr. Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks who was arrested in London earlier today, wrote an op-ed for the Australian in which he asserts that:

Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.

People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars. But there is nothing more wrong than a government lying to its people about those wars, then asking these same citizens to put their lives and their taxes on the line for those lies. If a war is justified, then tell the truth and the people will decide whether to support it.

This episode is a testament to the power of truth. Wikileaks has only released 1% of the 250,000 diplomatic wires it has received, and already look at the backlash it has created. Consider what would happen if all of the documents were released at once. What type of international frenzy would there be? It goes to show that just the tiniest bit of truth can have profound, reverberating consequences, making its power far stronger than that of apathetic ignorance. So perhaps Rupert Murdoch was right when he said, "in the struggle between truth and secrecy, it seems inevitable that truth will always win."

"Be Evil"

Google, as a company, has seemed to adopt a somewhat warm & cuddly image in recent years, mostly thanks to its exhausted mantra of "don't be evil." The overly simplistic catchphrase, featured in Google's own code of conduct and heard repeatedly by Google followers, somewhat masks the enormity of Google's vastly unknown and incredibly consequential activities, resting our minds in knowing that our access and information on the internet are secure and protected; leaving us free to indulge in hours of Youtube videos, LOLcat pictures, and the like... untroubled, knowing that our trust is held in a corporation which is truly compassionate at its core.

After all, hasn't Google always been on our side? Haven't they advocated openly for net neutrality over the years? And don't they have a funny holier-than-thou type of public relations that make us want to trust them? For years Google has been snapping our images, filtering our information, and teaching us about the world. They have completely revolutionized the way we acquire information, and have become our go-to encyclopedia for everything from American history to favorite baking recipes. Sure, they got caught spying on us, but they fessed up and then apologized for it. They even vowed to benevolence when it comes to our personal information, stating that "maintaining people's trust is crucial to everything that we do." So our friends at Google would never truly betray our trust, right?

Wrong. Unfortunately, Google's pledge to maintain net neutrality (and consequently our trust) was severely wrinkled yesterday, as if all of a sudden their manta became "Don't be evil- unless it could potentially be profitable to be so." It's kind of like an Animal-Farm-type revision: "no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets" and so on...

Well, for Google it appears that "the sheets"are synonymous with "Verizon," as the two are most certainly in bed together. After denying last week that they had any intention to alter the free state of the internet, Google has signed a proposal with one of the nations largest internet service providers, which introduces the concept of priority service to certain sites and hosts, and the ability of ISPs to effectively block content at their discretion; basically opening up the internet to a pay-to-play regime whereby the highest bidder gets the fastest connection speed.

There are several facets to the proposal which would undermine the unfettered nature of the internet, but the bottom line is this: Google and Verizon are moving in a direction that would ultimately change the internet as we know it forever. It would turn the net, which currently allows enormous space for a deluge of information from every corner of the world, into something more like a cable television system: where the premium channels come at a higher price, and content not suitable to the provider gets winnowed out. This is corporate takeover and self-regulation at its worst, and it simply cannot be allowed to happen. Voice your opinion today, and tell the Federal Communications Commission to do its job, and to save the internet!