Julian Assange, famous for his computer hacking skills, is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistle-blower website. WikiLeaks has exposed documents and videos detailing the corruption in Kenya, Guantanamo Bay procedures, and the American involvement in the Afghan and Iraq wars, portions of which were classified confidential and secret. The New York Times published some of this information. Although WikiLeaks did not actually “leak” classified material (some of it was passed to WikiLeaks by a low-level US Army intelligence analyst). The US Department of Justice has charged Assange with 18 counts of violating United States Codes (laws), including conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and illegally obtaining classified material.
Do you think it is ethical to expose or publish “leaked” confidential and secret government information? Explain your answer.
What is the difficulty in prosecuting a defendant for this type of publication?
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