[governance] EFF: Join EFF in Standing up Against Internet Censorship

[Katitza Rodriguez]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/join-eff-in-standing-up-against-internet-censorship

December 7th, 2010


  Join EFF in Standing up Against Internet Censorship
  <https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/join-eff-in-standing-up-against-internet-censorship>

/EFF: Join EFF in Standing up Against Internet Censorship

Call To Action <https://www.eff.org/blog-categories/call-action> by 
Shari Steele <https://www.eff.org/about/staff/shari-steele>/

Over the past few weeks, we here at EFF have watched as whistleblowing 
website WikiLeaks has fueled an emotionally charged debate about the 
secrecy of government information and the people's right to know. We 
have welcomed this debate, and the fact that there have been myriad 
views is the embodiment of the freedom of expression upon which this 
country was founded.

However, we've been greatly troubled by a recent shift in focus. The 
debate about the wisdom of releasing secret government documents has 
turned into a massive attack on the right of intermediaries to publish 
truthful information. Suddenly, WikiLeaks has become the Internet's 
scapegoat, with a Who's Who of American and foreign companies choosing 
to shun the site.

Let's be clear --- in the United States, at least, WikiLeaks has a 
fundamental right to publish 
<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17571244799664973711> 
truthful political information. And equally important, Internet users 
have a fundamental right to read 
<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6728320798248524934&q> that 
information and voice their opinions about it. We live in a society that 
values freedom of expression and shuns censorship. Unfortunately, those 
values are only as strong as the will to support them --- a will that 
seems to be dwindling now in an alarming way.

On Friday, we wrote 
<https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/amazon-and-wikileaks-first-amendment-only-strong> 
about Amazon's disappointing decision to yank hosting services from 
WikiLeaks after a phone call from a senator's office. Since then, a 
cascade of companies and organizations has backed away from WikiLeaks. A 
public figure called for the assassination 
<http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Charge+Harper+aide+assassinate+Julian+Assange+comment+lawyer/3931327/story.html> 
of Assange. PayPal 
<http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/paypal-suspends-wikileaks-account/>, 
MasterCard 
<http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20024801-503543.html>, and Visa 
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11938320> axed WikiLeaks' accounts. 
EveryDNS.net pulled 
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-internet-backlash-us-pressure> 
Wikileaks' DNS services. Unknown sources continue to cripple WikiLeaks 
with repeated denial of service attacks 
<https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/11825920490868737>. Even the 
Library of Congress, normally a bastion of public access to information, 
is blocking 
<http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/12/why-the-library-of-congress-is-blocking-wikileaks/> 
WikiLeaks.

There has been a tremendous backlash against WikiLeaks from governments 
around the world. In the United States, lawmakers have rashly proposed a 
law 
<http://ensign.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?ContentRecord_id=a908e152-c766-a798-abd5-07da74b197b3&FuseAction=Media.PressReleases> 
that threatens 
<http://www.lawfareblog.com/2010/12/espionage-act-amendments/> 
legitimate news reporting well beyond WikiLeaks. We expect to see 
similar efforts in other countries. Like it or not, WikiLeaks has become 
the emblem for one of the most important battles for our rights that is 
likely to come along in our lifetimes. We cannot sit this one out.


      Join EFF in standing up against Internet censorship
      <https://www.eff.org/pages/say-no-to-online-censorship>.

Download our No Censorship button 
<https://www.eff.org/pages/say-no-to-online-censorship> to display on 
your websites and social networking profiles. Show the world that you 
are committed to free expression and denounce censorship.

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