Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2011, on 1 January 2011, during the December 2010 diplomatic cables leak and the payment blockade. It does not reflect later events concerning WikiLeaks or Julian Assange.
There are attempts to boycott the leaked documents that expose our governments’ dirty laundry, but with new technologies and internet users, whatever they do, those documents will remain within everyone’s reach, because we don’t want them censored.
Julian Assange has put his life at risk by standing up to the government, and now it’s our turn. We should lend him a hand, because today it’s him, but tomorrow any of us might need a global support movement. As for the government, it’s very simple: if they don’t want their dirty laundry aired, they should wear clean clothes. So how can we help WikiLeaks?
1. To begin with, WikiLeaks will need financial support, so several accounts have been set up to receive donations. I must say that many anonymous donors have made very substantial contributions. It doesn’t matter whether you give €0.20, €1 or €100. Any amount will help and be appreciated. Ways to send your donation:
- Bank details for an electronic transfer to the “Julian Assange Defence Fund”: account number 91-765019-6; IBAN: CH55 0900 0000 9176 5019 6; BIC: POFICHBEXXX; account holder: Assange Julian Paul, Geneva
- By credit card through DataCell, Switzerland
- Bank details for a transfer via Sunshine Press Productions ehf: account number 0111-26-611010; SWIFT: NBIIISREXXX; IBAN: IS97 0111 2661 1010 6110 1002 80
- Bank details for a transfer via the Wau Holland Stiftung foundation: account number 2772812-04; IBAN: DE46 5204 0021 0277 2812 04; BIC: COBADEFFXXX; bank code: 52040021; reference: WIKILEAKS / WHS Projekt 04
- Details for donating by post: WikiLeaks (or any suitable name to avoid possible interception in your country), BOX 4080 – Australia Post Office – University of Melbourne Branch – Victoria 3052, Australia
2. Large internet companies have inexplicably joined the boycott against WikiLeaks, so citizens have launched a boycott of their own against these two big companies, which have blocked WikiLeaks’ accounts. PayPal has faced a wave of account closures, and people are still calling on more users to close theirs. If you want to help this way, all you have to do is close your PayPal and Amazon accounts.
If what stops you from joining this boycott is that you need these services day to day, there are alternatives to PayPal you can switch to.
3. WikiLeaks also needs help from professionals such as lawyers and IT specialists, so if you’d like to contribute your knowledge to this “war”, you can email wl-legal @sunshinepress.org if you’re a lawyer, or wl-supporters @sunshinepress.org if you work in IT.
4. WikiLeaks’ main domain has been shut down, cancelled, censored, but more than 580 mirror addresses have been created, and however hard they try, they will never get rid of the documents already posted online, because every time they close one address, another 50 will spring up. Here are some of the mirror domains:
120310wl.frezeb.webfactional.com/195.214.241.98/213.251.145.96213.251.145.96/213.251.145.96.nyud.net/46.59.1.246.59.1.2/46.59.1.2.nyud.net/79.159.1.172/wikileaks/85.88.21.139/
5. And finally, if you have a blog or an account on Facebook, Tuenti (a Spanish social network), Twitter and so on, share this message and get it to as many people as possible. Gurusblog and Alt1040 have already joined this fight. You’ll come across comments against WikiLeaks for leaking these documents, and even people who would love to see Julian Assange in jail.
When that happens, remember that this man has done the dirty work others didn’t have the courage to do: bringing the whole truth to light. I don’t know about you, but I want to know the whole truth, and the fact that they’re trying to censor him means we’re losing something people fought for over a long time: “freedom of expression and democracy”.
Featured image: Julian Assange & Martina Haris, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
