On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks began publishing material from a leaked database of 251,287 State Department cables – messages sent between the State Department and its embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions around the world, ranging in date from December 1966 to the end of February 2010.  Almost half of the cables are unclassified, with classified ranging up to “secret” classification.  WikiLeaks collaborated with The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and El País for the preparation of initial reportage.  The New York Times obtained a copy of the database of State Department cables from The Guardian. All State Department cables published by WikiLeaks were first read and redacted by media partners before appearing on their website.

WikiLeaks chose to release only a few hundred cables in November, while expanding its network of media partners in order to maximize the impact of the Cablegate release on the public historic record.  Julian Assange explained the decision to publish over a long period by emphasizing that “the subject matter of these cables was judged to be of such great importance, and the geopolitical scope so broad, that to do otherwise would not do justice to the material.”  Over the months, WikiLeaks expanded its media partnerships to include independent writers and over 80 press outlets from around the world (see below for links to their reportage).  As of July 2011, nearly 16,000 cables have been published on WikiLeaks’ website.

The Nature of US Foreign Policy

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A window into governments around the wold

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  • Revealing unofficial US assessments of problem areas, from Central America to North America to North-East Asia
  • Corporate misdealing in Europe, Africa, South America
  • Extensive US influence over legal proceedings in foreign countries
  • Illegal policies internal to a large number of countries
  • Widespread corruption in many countries
  • Significant disparities between official and actual policy in countries on all continents
  • US efforts to promote its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
  • Arms trade
  • International relations
  • Information relevant for the understanding of important current events, such as descriptions of the regimes of Tunisia and Egypt

An Environment of Censorship

In anticipation of the upcoming release of State Department cables, the UK government issued a DA-notice on 26 November 2011 [1] [2].

DOS, EasyDNS domain name attack, Amazon cloud, Paypal, visa, mastercard, letters to students, library of congress, military.

On 2 July 2011, WikiLeaks announced that legal action will be brought by itself and DataCell against Visa Europe, Mastercard Europe, and Teller.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/05/columbia-students-wikileaks-cables

http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/12/why-the-library-of-congress-is-blocking-wikileaks/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-cables-blocks-access-federal

Amazon terminated cloud services for Wikileaks.

Instructions on how to cancel an account with Amazon (in German language; does not work on their website, needs a fax) at http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/foren/S-Anleitung-zur-Amazon-Kuendigung/forum-190305/msg-19534821/read/

Tableausoftware terminated visualization statistics by Wikileaks

EveryDNS (belongs to DynDNS.com) terminated DNS resolution for Wikileaks

Paypal (belongs to eBay) terminated account for Wikileaks

Moneybookers terminated account for Wikileaks

Mastercard (Credit Card) “MasterCard rules prohibit customers from directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal” http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20024776-281.html

Visa “suspends all payments, pending an investigation” http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/12/07/technology-financials-wikilPiratenPad:wikileakseaks_818PiratenPad:wikileaksPiratenPad:wikileaks6954.html

Postfinance terminated account

Intersting enough, citing “moral reasons” in http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/politik/schweiz%29/postfinance_kuendigt_wikileaks_1.8579139.html whereas press release focuses on domicile.

McAfee Web Gateway (filters URLs as potential criminal activities) (Source http://www.heise.de/newsticker/foren/S-McAfee-Web-Gateway-ebenfalls/forum-190394/msg-19542014/read/ )

Bank of America

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/17/2528138/bank-of-america-says-it-wont-process.html

 

Media outlets with dedicated coverage