The
PayPal-offshoot Becomes a Weapon in the War Against Whistleblowers
and WikiLeaks. The Palantir document notes that most well-known
journalistic professionals “with a liberal bent . . .if pushed will
choose professional preservation over cause, such is the mentality of
most business professionals.”
WikiLeaks,
the transparency organization known for publishing leaked documents
that threaten the powerful, finds itself under pressure like never
before, as does its editor-in-chief, Julian Assange. Now the fight to
silence WikiLeaks is not only being waged by powerful government
figures but also by the media, including outlets and organizations
that have styled themselves as working to protect whistleblowers.
Pierre
Omidyar – eBay billionaire and PayPal’s long-time owner – holds
considerable sway over several journalists and organizations that
once championed WikiLeaks but now work for the Omidyar-owned
publication, The Intercept. Thanks to his deep ties to the U.S.
government and his own long-standing efforts to undermine the
organization, Omidyar is using his influence to bring renewed
pressure to WikiLeaks as it continues to publish sensitive government
information. However, Pierre Omidyar is not the only PayPal-linked
billionaire with strong government connections and a dislike for
WikiLeaks.
Part
6 - In the wake of the 2016 election: exploiting the “mission”
weakness
More
telling than anything else, however, is why the FPF chose to move
forward with this decision. Among those members of the FPF who have
spoken up against WikiLeaks in recent months — each of them has
pointed to the concern that WikiLeaks and Assange have “gone
astray” from WikiLeaks’ original mission, rejecting its
commitment to nonpartisanship and intentionally aiding the Trump
campaign in the 2016 election — thus making the organization and
Assange responsible for Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.
Those
FPF members that do not share these views have remained silent,
despite the fact that many of them have vocally defended WikiLeaks in
the past.
This is
remarkably in keeping with the Palantir document’s cited “mission”
weakness. While the document — written in 2010 — said that some
disgruntled WikiLeaks supporters felt that Assange’s alleged target
was the United States government, the same “fracture” has arisen
with accusations that Assange was unfairly singling out Hillary
Clinton. In both cases, Assange and WikiLeaks’ goal was to expose
the crimes of both the U.S. government and, later, Hillary Clinton —
not to slander either with false information.
Now,
those accusing WikiLeaks of everything from Russian collusion to
secretly plotting with the Trump campaign are being exploited by a
massive “media campaign” built on “disinformation.” Just as
the Palantir document suggests, this media campaign is working to
“feed the fuel between feuding groups [i.e. those who accuse
WikiLeaks of anti-Hillary partisanship and those who do not].”
As will
be revealed in Part III of this series, one writer in particular —
Kevin Poulsen — has been instrumental in this recent, post-election
media campaign to discredit WikiLeaks. Yet, Poulsen’s history shows
he is no friend to whistleblowers or WikiLeaks. Not only was Poulsen
responsible for causing massive damage to the reputation and defense
of Chelsea Manning prior to her trial, he also shares a direct
connection to the FPF — and a shady connection to the U.S.
government. More troubling still, he — after two mysterious
suicides — is the only surviving member of the group that created
SecureDrop, the app which — after being promoted by the FPF and The
Intercept — is now widely used by top media outlets for “secret”
communication between would-be whistleblowers and big-name
journalists. Could Poulsen’s troubled past with WikiLeaks and its
sources endanger SecureDrop’s goal of protecting whistleblowers?
***
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