14 DAY TRIAL // Anonymous and WikiLeaks have had their ups and downs before, but in the end they always settled their disputes. Now, some of the hacktivists have decided to stop supporting the whistleblower site because it no longer stands for the ideals it once used to.
Anonymous has been pretty disappointed with WikiLeaks in the past period, but the donation “paywall” recently instated by the website appears to represent the last straw.
Initially, WikiLeaks took down the window that basically “forced” those who wanted to see the Stratfor Global Intelligence Files to make a donation before gaining access to the information.
However, a few hours later, the controversial donation advertisement was reinstated for all the sections of the site, not just the Stratfor files.
Anonymous argued that although the “paywall” could be bypassed by disabling JavaScript, many users don’t know how to do that, calling it a” meretricious banner.” While they claim they understand that the website needs to ask for donations, they stress that this must be done in an “unostentatious manner.”
This isn’t the only issue that sparked the fury of the hacktivists. They’re also displeased with the fact that in the past period WikiLeaks has become more about Julian Assange than the fight for the freedom of information.
“Wikileaks is not - or should not be - about Julian Assange alone. The idea behind Wikileaks was to provide the public with information that would otherwise being kept secret by industries and governments. Information we strongly believe the public has a right to know,” the hackers stated.
“But this has been pushed more and more into the background, instead we only hear about Julian Assange, like he had dinner last night with Lady Gaga. That's great for him but not much of our interest. We are more interested in transparent governments and bringing out documents and information they want to hide from the public.”
The members of Anonymous who have published the statement highlight the fact that they may not speak for the entire community, but they’re confident that many online activists share their views.
Furthermore, although they might not support WikiLeaks anymore, they say they will continue to “fight for the free information” and they will “support anyone who pursues the same ideal.”