Might WikiLeaks’ massive dump of information have the reverse effect and increase government secrecy rather than lessen it?
I think it is having the opposite effect. There are now other websites starting. Every time governments have done that, it has always backfired. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the WikiLeaks document leak was “an attack on American foreign policy interests … and the international community.” Is this an overreaction? The public is viewing this as an attack on freedom of speech. That is the perception, whether it is true or not. I think it is already backfiring. They are going to make him a martyr and that will probably give birth to a thousand Julian Assanges. We are living in the century of information. Everything is going to be open book. Maybe that’s good for government. I think we have to go back to the principles of democracy. Talk to the people. Recently, the State Department has started using Twitter. That’s good! Our Prime Minister has used YouTube. Good! People want action. The government has to use the Internet, social media, to embark on a frank debate, to try to
