Today only a lazy or indifferent person has not heard of Wikileaks. For more than 10 years this portal has been flooding the world with sensational investigations, secret materials that were taken or stolen from the intelligence services of advanced countries. The founder of the site, Julian Assange, has become a cult figure in journalism, in America he is called a spy and a traitor, in other countries - a man fighting for freedom of speech.
History
Wikileaks is not just an investigative journalism site, it is an information base of international scope. The idea of creating such a media fund open to all was the assertion of a different point of view, different from the official ideology. This idea quickly gained wild popularity around the world. Today, all revelations and scandals of an international scale are somehow connected with the siteWikileaks.
Many ordinary users are wondering how to translate WikiLeaks into Russian. There is no exact translation, but the general meaning is "leak". The founder of the site, Julian Assange, along with several trusted persons, publish information from anonymous sources on their portal. Any person who has any data of interest to the public can upload files without advertising his real name. On average, the team of Assange and his like-minded people has 5-6 confidants and about 1.5 thousand volunteers, the same dissidents and fighters for justice. Only administrators can post documents on the site. Unlike other wiki sites, ordinary users cannot participate in data editing.
Founding Goals
The site is treated differently around the world. Someone argues that Wikileaks is a spy project, the purpose of which is to disorganize thinking in society. For his bold thoughts, Assange was repeatedly imprisoned, arrested and charged - both in America and in Europe.
Each new publication on the site is like an information bomb explosion. Suffice it to recall the secret documents of the Pentagon confirming its connection with terrorist Islamist groups, or the scandalous video of 2010 about how American helicopters shot civilians. At the time, the video created a lot of buzz, although the authorities continued to argue about the legality of their actions.
The goals of the founder and his associates are to open the eyes of ordinary citizens to the situation in the world. Get people to think critically, to see the truth, not government-imposed news.
According to the founders, they saw it as their task to post a different point of view on things and events in parallel with the official news. In addition, anonymity allowed many people who could not normally speak to speak their minds.
Assange's biography
Julian Assange is from Australia. Here he was known as an Internet presenter, hacker and journalist. Even in his youth he had problems with the law, at the age of 20, together with other hackers, he hacked the website of a telecommunications program, was tried, but got off with a fine. He was also suspected of stealing money from the accounts of a large bank. In 2006, together with other like-minded people, Assange thinks about creating a unique project where declassified data could be published so that the sources could not be traced. That was WikiLeaks.
According to some reports, Assange has 4 children, but in some interviews he himself speaks of only one son from his official wife. After a divorce from his mother, Julian raised the boy himself and did not communicate with him for several years due to his forced confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy in Sweden.
Hunting
From the very beginning, realizing how difficult the task is for them, the founders of the portal decided to register in Sweden, known for its loyal attitude towards journalists and their investigations.
Later the presence of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in this country played with himbad joke. In 2010, he was accused of raping a Swedish woman, whose name was not disclosed. For the entire public, the question of the legality of such an accusation was clear: the authorities did not find any other reason to catch on to the Internet rebel, and therefore such a non-standard solution was invented. According to another version, the conflict happened because of the jealousy of the two women of Assange, who could not share the man.
Be that as it may, the UK court took the case seriously, and Assange was soon to be arrested. Then Julian asked for asylum in Ecuador and hid in the territory of their embassy. For more than 5 years, he cannot leave its walls, since any appearance on the territory of Sweden threatens with instant arrest.
Since 2012, Assange has been living and working in a small room with a bike path, shower and computer. Sometimes he goes to the balcony to give interviews, and also actively communicates with those he supports. The decision to arrest him for sexual harassment was overturned in the summer of 2017, but Assange still cannot leave the building. A few years ago, he violated the rules of being under house arrest, which in the UK, where the trial was supposed to take place, is punished severely.
Edward Snowden
The fate of this man also became forever linked to Wikileaks. Snowden has been accused in absentia of high treason and the theft of 1.7 million classified Pentagon files, including military security. In 2013, he managed to escape to Hong Kong, then to Moscow. Here the fugitive hacker received a residence permit and political asylum. According to some reports, he lives in the Moscow region, but where exactly is not disclosed.
It was Snowden who revealed to the world the fact that every resident can be subject to round-the-clock surveillance. The intelligence services of all developed countries monitor human behavior on the Internet, at work and even at home.
Snowden deliberately took risks, realizing that a comfortable life, a house, a good salary and even freedom - everything can disappear. According to him, he simply could not live with the idea of the impunity of the US government.
Website
What kind of website is WikiLeaks? When people talk about him, they first of all remember his founders and another associate of Assange - Edward Snowden. This man has also been hiding from the American authorities in Russia for several years now. Although the accusations against him are much more serious - espionage and disclosure of state secrets.
Wikileaks on the Internet has become something of a pioneer. No one has ever spoken so boldly and openly about important events in the world. The very first publications about executions in Somalia, as well as the disclosure of classified materials about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, quickly established the portal and its founders among the same fighters against the imposed ideology.
To somehow protect himself, Assange made alliances with other hackers and Internet pirates. In addition, together with Snowden, they have placed more than 4,000 GB of classified information files, which, if they die, will be in the public domain. Perhaps that is why they are still alive, but are persecuted by all strong intelligence agencies.
Publications
Every posting of classified documents on Wikileaks becomes a sensation. In 2009, the site posted hundreds of high profile posts about the events of 9/11, suggesting government involvement in the worst terrorist attack in the United States.
In 2010, the site posted correspondence between US diplomats and other countries. Readers of Wikileaks could easily learn about Saudi Arabia's request for help in taking over Iran, nicknames and real attitudes towards the world's leading leaders.
The information that the NSA has been wiretapping the top leaders of Europe, including Angela Merkel, has caused a great resonance in the world.
One of the latest publications is devoted to hacking electronic devices of ordinary users.
Loud scandals
WikiLeaks is widely believed to be a site designed to discredit and stop the US government and its war machine. Most of the publications concern specifically America, the wars unleashed by it and the consequences of hostilities. One of the most high-profile revelations that hit the image of the United States was the publication of inhuman torture in the Guantanamo prison. Photos and videos of atrocities perpetrated by soldiers almost cost Barack Obama the presidency and hurt the country's image.
Another global information bomb was Snowden's investigation of global surveillance of all people. Now the topic of control of state corporations has not subsided, but is growing more and more. There is an assumption that all data from phones,computers, correspondence in social networks are available to special services. That without the sanctions and permissions of the FBI, the FSB and other special services can monitor the life of any person.
Hackers, famous personalities and ordinary people added fuel to the fire, who are replicating with might and main the idea that surveillance can be carried out even from an idle phone or laptop through a turned off camera.
WikiLeaks in Russian
At the very beginning of his work, Assange was very skeptical about Russia and in his publications stated that his goal was to reveal the facts of repressions of recent years in this country and China, as well as to expose rich and criminal businessmen.
But over time, the attitude of the Wikileaks founders towards Russia and its role in world politics has changed in many ways. The media notice that the opinions of Assange and official Moscow often coincide, which is why the founder of the site has been repeatedly accused of having links with Russia and Putin personally. Moreover, Edward Snowden has been living and working in the Moscow region for several years now.
Thus, Assange, in an interview with the Russian-language RT channel, supported Putin's actions in Ukraine, and later in Syria.
Wikileaks in Russian has not been widely developed and is under development. For Russian-speaking users, the Russian Reporter magazine translates and publishes information on its portal. Some translations are available thanks to volunteers or just interested users.
Fighting the site
There have been numerous attempts to close the project. Already after the first publications of the sitewas subjected to a severe Internet attack and was even inaccessible to visitors for several days, the Wikileaks materials were not affected. After the arrest of Assange and publications about the diplomatic games of the US Government in some countries, the Wikileaks account was frozen, and accounts for accepting donations were closed. But the administrators got out of the situation and began to accept monetary "gifts" in bitcoins, an electronic currency.
World Opinion
Not everyone correctly understands and perceives the purpose of the Wikileaks website. Some call its founders heroes, fighters for justice, others consider such interference as treason and a desire to become famous. Fifth columnists say WikiLeaks is America's giant information gun, part of a clever Washington campaign. And all the information dropped is just a small fraction of the real database.
Wikileaks is always held up as an example of free investigative journalism, without the pressure of official authorities, intelligence agencies or official ideology. Despite the huge resonance in society, the site, in general, achieved its original goal. Millions of people were able to see reality in a different way than the mainstream media.
There are no other portals similar to WikiLeaks yet. There are individuals, hackers, volunteers, public figures who are trying to resist the system, but there is no such powerful "weapon" as the brainchild of Julian Assange.
