Julian Assange: a profile of the Wikileaks founder
Julian Assange, the founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, has lost his latest battle against extradition to Sweden but who is the man once described as the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel of cyberspace?
Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks
Assange, 40, had an unconventional upbringing. Born and raised in Australia,
his parents met at a demonstration against the Vietnam War and instilled in
their son a sense of rebellion.
He attended 37 different schools as a child, moving often because his parents
ran a touring theatre company, and went on to study pure maths and physics
at university. Reports in Australia claim that he left home at 17 and spent
some time sleeping rough in Melbourne.
But the internet was his one true passion and he became part of the computer
underground in his late teens, learning to hack into email accounts
belonging to the rich and influential and mine their secrets.
After publishing an expose on physicists selling research to military and
intelligence agencies, he went on to found Wikileaks
in 2007. The site describes itself as the "uncensorable Wikipedia for
untraceable mass document leaking and analysis" and has grown to be
regarded as the most extensive and safest platforms to which whistleblowers
can leak.
It publishes documents that allege government and corporate misconduct,
bypassing mainstream media and delivering previously top secret information
straight to the public domain.
The non-profit website is run by a loose band of volunteers and goes to
extraordinary lengths to protect the identity of its sources.
It came to worldwide notice after the publication of a secret video taken in 2007 of a US helicopter attack in Iraq that killed a dozen civilians, including two unarmed Reuters journalists.
Despite the dominance of the website, Assange was initially a shadowy figure who shunned the limelight and was rarely seen in public.
With what he might remember bitterly, he used to often pop up in Sweden, because its laws protect internet anonymity.
However, he has become far more high-profile recently, due to his battles with the courts after the sexual assault allegations were disclosed.
Something of a nomad, Assange carries a desktop computer and clothes in his rucksack. His travels are funded by money "made on the internet". Recognisable by his shock of white hair, he still grants few interviews to the media and shrugs off criticism that some of his leaks are militarily sensitive.
"When governments stop torturing and killing people, and when corporations stop abusing the legal system, then perhaps it will be time to ask if free-speech activists are accountable," he said.
It came to worldwide notice after the publication of a secret video taken in 2007 of a US helicopter attack in Iraq that killed a dozen civilians, including two unarmed Reuters journalists.
Despite the dominance of the website, Assange was initially a shadowy figure who shunned the limelight and was rarely seen in public.
With what he might remember bitterly, he used to often pop up in Sweden, because its laws protect internet anonymity.
However, he has become far more high-profile recently, due to his battles with the courts after the sexual assault allegations were disclosed.
Something of a nomad, Assange carries a desktop computer and clothes in his rucksack. His travels are funded by money "made on the internet". Recognisable by his shock of white hair, he still grants few interviews to the media and shrugs off criticism that some of his leaks are militarily sensitive.
"When governments stop torturing and killing people, and when corporations stop abusing the legal system, then perhaps it will be time to ask if free-speech activists are accountable," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment