Wikileaks and Osama Bin Laden: A Discussion

[KramerDSP]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/05/wikileaks-files-contained-clue-bin-laden-abbottabad-hideout/37252/

This thread is based on the assumption that UBL was killed last weekend in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Anyone who disagrees with this assumption probably should discuss their opinions on that in other threads here on this froum.

If UBL had acted on this information provided by Wikileaks, and had he escaped capture, would your feelings about Wikileaks remain the same, change slightly, or change entirely?

[Teaser Rate]

This is a very interesting issue. I think it’s easier to deal with in by diving it into the moral and practical implications such a situation would bring up.

Morally, I believe news outlets have a responsibility to make sure certain information does not get published (individual street addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, etc). If someone hacked into VISA’s servers and gave Wikileaks the logs of everyone’s credit card numbers, they definitely should not publish them. I believe any information which could have reasonably interfered with the hunt for one of the most dangerous men in the world falls under the category of information news outlets have a responsibility to keep hidden from the public.

Legally, I think it’s very hard to make a case that shutting down Wikileaks would prevent such information from getting out. Once anything reaches the Internet, it can’t be gotten back. If Wikileaks shuts down, then 10 other such sites will go up, much like what happened to file sharing after Napster. Unlike many libertarians who believe the law should always conform to a strict moral standard, I believe its first role is to improve society, and I doubt that taking legal action against Wikileaks would accomplish that.

This part of Wikileaks is just another example of a negative aspect of freedom which government intervention can’t do anything about. Much like drug use and prostitution, starting a war on the free distribution of information would be futile.