4 ms·

Given all the upvotes on this post, I'm guessing I'm in the minority. But, I'm not a fan of wikileaks' ethics. Whistler blowers are important, and I have a lot

Given all the upvotes on this post, I'm guessing I'm in the minority. But, I'm not a fan of wikileaks' ethics. Whistler blowers are important, and I have a lot of respect for their bravery, but wikileaks feels like a metalayer on top of whistle blowing that feels slightly gamey and a little celebratory.

westbywest 17y ago
It's rather unavoidable to venture a bit into self-righteousness or vanity when you voluntarily act on ideals. If wikileaks somehow maneuvered into to being the only repository for whistle-blowers, then certainly, their pride would do their a mission a grave disservice. Still, whistle-blowers find few places of refuge these days, and wikileaks has demonstrated substantial effectiveness in being just that. Actively protecting/encouraging whistle-blowers out of idealism, while also acknowledging the consequences of vigilantes pursuing such ideals (collecting too many eggs in too few baskets), need not be mutually exclusive. It's a zero-sum game, otherwise.
radu_floricica 17y ago
Don't you think whistle blowing needs a meta-layer? Say I'm some guy in some room and on my desktop sits a very nasty excel about illegal or unethical party payments. What do I do? I can send them to a newspaper, which may not publish them (for a long list of reasons). I may send them to several newspapers, in which case there is a better chance that they will be published. But then I have a pretty big chance of being found - several emails to several people, at least some not prepared to deal with confidential information. The more sensitive my documents are, the more risky it is. Whistle blowing is often a very grey business. My actions may be somewhat but obviously illegal, and the bag guys may not be very but not so obviously so. It can backfire. This is why the meta-layer is important. I just send one email, and I'm pretty secure that my actions are confidential. Worst case scenario is they decide not to publish it, in which case i'm not really worse of. If I want, I can try again with a classic news outlet.
- azeemazhar2 17y ago
  hey sorry for getting so silent. but the best is the enemy of the good. Lots of issues about just how great wikileaks is for all this--but until there is something better then let's give them some support.

westbywest 17y ago

It's rather unavoidable to venture a bit into self-righteousness or vanity when you voluntarily act on ideals. If wikileaks somehow maneuvered into to being the only repository for whistle-blowers, then certainly, their pride would do their a mission a grave disservice. Still, whistle-blowers find few places of refuge these days, and wikileaks has demonstrated substantial effectiveness in being just that. Actively protecting/encouraging whistle-blowers out of idealism, while also acknowledging the consequences of vigilantes pursuing such ideals (collecting too many eggs in too few baskets), need not be mutually exclusive. It's a zero-sum game, otherwise.

radu_floricica 17y ago

Don't you think whistle blowing needs a meta-layer? Say I'm some guy in some room and on my desktop sits a very nasty excel about illegal or unethical party payments. What do I do? I can send them to a newspaper, which may not publish them (for a long list of reasons). I may send them to several newspapers, in which case there is a better chance that they will be published. But then I have a pretty big chance of being found - several emails to several people, at least some not prepared to deal with confidential information. The more sensitive my documents are, the more risky it is. Whistle blowing is often a very grey business. My actions may be somewhat but obviously illegal, and the bag guys may not be very but not so obviously so. It can backfire. This is why the meta-layer is important. I just send one email, and I'm pretty secure that my actions are confidential. Worst case scenario is they decide not to publish it, in which case i'm not really worse of. If I want, I can try again with a classic news outlet.

azeemazhar2 17y ago
hey sorry for getting so silent. but the best is the enemy of the good. Lots of issues about just how great wikileaks is for all this--but until there is something better then let's give them some support.