WikiLeaks
Summary
This documentation is about WikiLeaks, media organization and Web site that functioned as a clearinghouse for unethical, illegal or otherwise privileged information. WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 by Australian computer programmer and activist Julian Assange.
About
“WikiLeaks is a giant library of the world's most persecuted documents. We give asylum to these documents, we analyze them, we promote them and we obtain more.” - Julian Assange, Der Spiegel Interview
History
WikiLeaks is an international nonprofit organization. It publishes leaked government and other documents on the Internet that exposes an unethical, illegal case or process, while keeping its sources anonymous. The system that enables file uploads is implemented via the Tor anonymization network. The website was launched in 2006, operated by The Sunshine Press. WikiLeaks claims that its founders were professionals from Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians and start-ups who came to the organization from the United States, Europe, Taiwan, Australia and South Africa. Sweden was originally the site of the founding, and the public face was Australian exhacker Julian Assange.
According to the staff, the database of the site contained 1.2 million documents a year after its launch. The most echoed leaks were the nearly 92,000 military and similar secret documents related to the war in Afghanistan, the “Collateral Murder” video, the nearly 400,000 secret military reports released during the Iraq war, and 250,000 various messages sent by U.S. diplomats. Following the leak of diplomatic messages, the U.S. government launched a drive hunt against WikiLeaks, over and above Visa, Mastercard and PayPal refused to pass on donations to them. At the same time, the Swedish prosecutor’s office issued an international circuit against Assange, alleging the commission of alleged sexual crimes. Due to the financial blockade, Assange announced the shutdown of the portal on 24 October 2011.
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To be continued Some Other Documentation.
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Awards
WikiLeaks, its publisher and its journalists have won many awards, including:
- The Economist New Media Award (2008)
- The Amnesty New Media Award (2009)
- TIME Magazine Person of the Year, People's Choice (highest global vote) (2010)
- The Sam Adams Award for Integrity (2010)
- The National Union of Journalists Journalist of the Year (Hrafnsson) (2011)
- The Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal (2011)
- The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (2011)
- The Blanquerna Award for Best Communicator (2011)
- The Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism (2011)
- The Voltaire Award for Free Speech (2011)
- The International Piero Passetti Journalism Prize of the National Union of Italian Journalists (2011)
- The Jose Couso Press Freedom Award (2011)
- The Privacy International Hero of Privacy (2012)
- The Global Exchange Human Rights People's Choice Award (2013)
- The Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts (2013)
- The Brazillian Press Association Human Rights Award (2013)
- The Kazakstan Union of Journalists Top Prize (2014)
As well as nominations for the UN Mandela Prize (2015) and nominations in six consecutive years for the Nobel Peace Prize (2010-2015)