WikiLeaks has published thousands of pages of classified U.S. intelligence. This non-profit website publishes and comments on leaked documents that allege government and corporate misconduct. Some defend it saying that it protects whistle-blowers, journalists and activists. Critics have charged that it recklessly endangers national security. The online organization's actions have ignited fierce debate over whether the First Amendment's free speech rights will keep its members and its founder, Julian Assange, safe from prosecution. Is this free speech or simply espionage?
Read all (3) articles and write a thoughtful response.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/01/sweden.interpol.assange/index.html?hpt=T2
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/01/wikileaks.toobin/index.html?hpt=T2
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/01/sweden.interpol.assange/index.html?hpt=T2
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23 comments:
Since espionage is defined as "the systematic use of spies to obtain secret information, esp by governments to discover military or political secrets " I'm not necessarily sure that what Julian Assange did violates the First Amendment. They need to prove intention of him spying bc from my understanding, he just hacked the files. It would be difficult to prove he had motive in discovering and exposing the files. However in my opinion, I think it is absolutely stupid what he did. There is no reason for him to have done that to his country. I understand if he doesn't like the way the government is running things, but putting the country in danger by exposing its secrets and thoughts isn't going to fix the problem. I also think that if they bring him to trial they need to be very careful because he allegedly committed other crimes including rape. To me this guy just seems scummy but I don't necessarily want to judge him without knowing the full story.
-Amanda Connerton
I believe in the Freedom of Speech but in this case i do not. Assange is putting the lives of American people at risk. He is leaking very important about our secret government operations, and plans of war that is putting our country out in the open because now everybody knows what we plan to do and our ecret information. Although Assange does have the freedom to express is emotion he does not have the right to put lives in danger. I also dont understand why He did this anyway. Does he really hate his own counrty and government so bad that he would go so far as to endanger us? I just doesnt make sense to me.
I think that this entire issue depends on what exactly was leaked on theis website. Some people say this is freedom of speech, its the classic arguement of yelling fire in a croudeed movie theatre. The law states that the federal government can limit freedom of speech if they believe they are abusing their rights and putting others in danger. The problem is how do we know who is a "whostle blower" and who is actually leaking information that puts American citizens in danger. Also if the government is the one who makes that decision whats to stop them from arresting any person who trys to "whistle blow". To be perfectly honest it all depends on what kind of information these documents contain.
I believe that everyone deserves their freedom of speech but not in this case. You need to know your boundaries and Julian Assange deffinetly did not. He is risking the lives of many americans by leaking this information out into the world. There needs to be consequenses for this unlawful act. He should be tried and charged for this situation. The government really needs to be careful with who they expose their information to because one minute a person can seem trustworthy and the next they can totally betray you.
This is most certainly not just free speech. Leaking this type of information could be very dangerous and thus he be punished for what he did. It's one thing to say whatever you want to say, but if you're putting information out there that could put innocent people in harms way, it's not okay. With his many criminal charges, it is easy to assume this is just another unlawful deed he can add to his list; it's not just innocent sharing of information. He should be tried and punished for his list of wrongs, and these leaks are certainly a major part of that list. This is not at all a violation of First Amendment rights.
I think that it was extremely irresponsible of Assange to release the state secrets that he did, but it was within his right to free speech. The only thing that is illegal about this whole process was the obtaining of this information- which was done by a soldier in the US Army who deserves to be Court-Martialed for treason for what he did. However, Assange is within his rights to use the information he received, unless it can be shown that he explicity hired the soldier to obtain it. Although there is a "clear and present danger" text on the books, this typically only applies to ruling on passed laws, and since as far as I know there are no specific laws on this issue, Assange should be safe here. He still might be a rapist though.
Some people believe this is freedom of speech, and Assange is protected by the first amendment. I am not one of those people. The first amendment states that there are many exceptions to the first amendment such as fighting words, defamation, and causing panic. In my opinion, Assange could possibly cause a panic by exposing government files and revealing their secrets. He has violated his first amendment rights and should be tried for that. I don't believe he was a spy, but I do think he should be tried.
-Danielle Johnson
The acts of Assange are something that could easily put the American people in danger. I believe in free speech, but in this case Assange simply took advantage of what he thinks are his rights. I doubt that the court is going to rule Assange innocent. For the safety of Americans, Assange should receive punishment for his actions. With national security at stake, people should take the actions of Assange extremely seriously. What Assange did and the danger he put each and every American in is completely inexcusable.
I think that everyone should have their freedom of speech, but in this case I do not think so. Assange is saying things that can harm the lives of Americans. He is saying important information and government plans that no one expect the government should know. That information will get around because "you know someone somewhere." I feel Assange is just taking advantage of Freedom of Speech. He needs to be charged for this. This is a very big issue and this man needs to have consequences.
Although freedom of speech is a right that must be respected, I believe that Julian Assange and the other members of wikiLeaks should be prosecuted. The first amendment does allow all Americans the right to freedom of speech, but this amendment also gives the government the power to limit the first amendment if it is being abused and used irresponsibly. After posting a ton of classified U.S. intelligence on the internet, I believe free speech rights should not be applied here because Assange is putting the country at risk. By making numerous articles of U.S. intelligence public, Assange and the other members of wikiLeaks are placing Americans in harms ways as they are making the country vulnerable. Assange is acting as a “clear and present danger” and he should be punished for his actions. This act by Julian Assange is in no way a display of freedom of speech, but rather an act of espionage that threatens the security and well-being of the United States.
I believe that this man should go to prison. there is no doubt in my mind that he should not. he flat out just hacked government files, which in itself is insulting to the government. even the us government does not protect the rights of all americans at times, and i believe that this really is one of those moments. there is no justification for giving out top secret government files out to the open public with no real motive.
The Bill of Rights includes one of America's most precious rights, the freedom of expression, states that the congress shall not pass any laws that infringe the freedom of speech, press, assembly, or religion. By the first Amendement, Assange is legally aloud to write what he wants on his website, because it is just that, HIS. Assange has freedom of the press and can write what ever he pleases on his site and cannot be procecuted for this because legislation cannot do anything about laws pertaining to free expression. But however, freedom of speach isn't always free. Under Title VIII of the Partiot Act, freedom of speech is restricted if it is deemed "dangerous to human life" or are used "intimidate or coerce a civilian population," and under the same Title of this act, hacking a goverment computer is punishable by because it is abstruction of justice (government computers and files are considered tools to administer justice). Therefor, Assange is punishable by law, not to mention his alleged rape crimes. I hope he is prosecuted to full extent of the law. bie bie<3
Although I do not know the entire story, as most others don't because we do not know exactly what was leaked, I still do think this is an issue that should be taken seriously. I understand that websites like wikileaks is popular for information on celebraties and television shows but I feel that putting government information on there is taking it a step too far. I'm not sure if this should be considered espionage but I do think this situation should be taken seriously, as it is, in order to proetect those in our country and the relationships with other countries. I hope this is all resolved soon and nothing will come about from it that will cause relationships to be taken away forever.
I believe that ever person is entitled to free speech but depending on what exactly was said on the website, i think that his freedom is allowed to be taken away. I also think that espionage would have to be determined after a more in depth investigation on his actions. It would have to be a proven thing that he was spying and i also think it could be effected by what his intentions were by leaking this information.
There's no chance in Julian Assange not being convicted of a crime that will put him in jail for 20+ years. Freedom of speech does not include top secret government documents that you shouldn't even have in your possession. Whether or not he gets convicted with violating his freedom of speech or espionage, he has to get convicted of having the documents, doesn't he? First off, it's really scary that our top secret documents have been breached by just anybody. It makes you wonder how many more documents are there with information/events we have no idea about. It also makes you wonder if these documents are accessible to a security breach as well. Our government is hiding information from us, atleast put some heavy security on it and know who's in your governmentl.
I think that the idea of freedom of speech is very important and that each american citizen has the right to this freedom. However, I do believe that if the freedom of speech is abused and used in a way which hurts more people than it helps, then it is important that this freedom be restricted. The governments information that was released could in fact danger the lives of Americans. I think that Julian Assange needs to be punished for his actions. I understand that he believes that everyone has a right to know this information but I don't think it is his information to tell. He must be punished for this action because the information is not for the good of the people. If he is unhappy with the way the government is running things he should either move to another country or try to change things in a safe manor. Exposing the government secrets is not going to change anything. It says that he has committed other crimes so I believe this man needs to be punished.
Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but you need to know your limits. This man is leaking out government information that can harm the lives of American citizens. I belive this man should go to prison, he hacked government files and mad them public, which is harmful and insulting to the government. The government really needs to be careful of who has their information, and should put a better type of security on it so that nothing can be leaked out into the public.
I believe this is definitely an act of espionage. There is no doubt he he had intentions to spy on information and leak it to the public. If I made the rules, I would send Julian Assange to jail, but it's not up to me. Although we all have a right to free speech, sometimes natioal issues such as these are not allowed to be publicly announce because they can cause great chaos. Our U.S. constitution is out dated, because today we have internet and anybody can do anything on the internet. We don't have many laws against computer hacking. I think we need to re-evaluated our laws to bring them up to date with the technology today. There is no proof that it was actually him behind the website. We cannot rely on technology to prove guilty.Even though this is stupid, these are the laws. This man is not American if he would betray his country like this.
Every man is entitled to free expression. This includes freedom of spech and freedon of the press. With this said, Julian Assange and Wikileaks have not violated the first ammendment with their documents. Just as the New York Times, Wikileaks was a medium to disseminate information. However, the New York Times does not put national security into jeopardy. With that said, Julian Assange should be prosecuted for espionage. By disclosing these secret documents, he has not only put many individual's lives into danger, but also weakens the efforts of international peacemaking. His acts against his country are disgusting. Luckily, because he had sex crimes charges against him, he was caught.
It doesn't really matter how you define espionage. When someone is putting us at risk at the national level, that is a huge threat and will be dealt with. Despite his sex crimes, which he better serve time for, he will also face justice from the U.S. It doesn't matter that he's an australian citizen, he will tried as a spy. If another person leaked intel from a country like North Korea or China, that fool would have a massive bounty on his head and would be killed or tortured to death. Another thing is that our country pays for the defense of several other countries by stationing troops their. What kind of gratitude is that? Leaking classified information that endangers American soldiers like that is infuriating. There are countries that live with free medicare and such. THAT'S BECAUSE THEIR TAXES DON'T GO TOWARDS NATIONAL DEFENSE. A HUGE AMOUNT OF OUR TAXES ARE SPENT ON THE GOOD OF OTHER COUNTRIES. It is truly ridiculous that american citizens can't get health insurance. Countries like Sweden and France are living in paradise pretty much. I am not advocating that we stop funding other country's defense, it will kill our reputation, but somehow make money from defending them. Those profits could be used for healthcare for the people who can't afford it. Getting back to the topic, Julian Assange's free speech has endangered the lives of our fellow soldiers and should be punished harshly.
Freedom of speech is limited when it puts our nation in danger. I wouldnt go as far to say that it is espoinage but he defiantly crossed the line. I really wonder how Julian Assange got thousands of pages of classified U.S. intelligence. I think thats what we should be focusing on because if he did it whose to say that others aren't doing it too. What if other countries are getting there hands on our classifed documents. The US government should find out how Julian was able to get the material and provent it from ever happening again.
Posting secrets of any government is a very dangerous thing. Some people will view that as an act of war against our country because ultimatly, the secrets are helping America's enemies and give them a big advantage. It is also common courtesy to not reveal a nation's secrets especially when they can be used against them. Assange was wrong for doing this and he should be punished. He probablyb has his reasons for doing this but the bottom line is that he has done something that could possibly put Americans in danger.
Kenny Anello
Posting secrets of any government is a very dangerous thing. Some people will view that as an act of war against our country because ultimatly, the secrets are helping America's enemies and give them a big advantage. It is also common courtesy to not reveal a nation's secrets especially when they can be used against them. Assange was wrong for doing this and he should be punished. He probablyb has his reasons for doing this but the bottom line is that he has done something that could possibly put Americans in danger.
Kenny Anello
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