Internet privatization, wikileaks, and free expression

dc.contributor.authorDALY, Angela
dc.date.accessioned2015-03-19T17:04:49Z
dc.date.available2015-03-19T17:04:49Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractIn late 2010, the online nonprofit media organization WikiLeaks published classified documents detailing correspondence between the U.S. State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world, numbering around 250,000 cables. These diplomatic cables contained classified information with comments on world leaders, foreign states, and various international and domestic issues. Negative reactions to the publication of these cables came from both the U.S. political class (which was generally condemnatory of WikiLeaks, invoking national security concerns and the jeopardizing of U.S. interests abroad) and the corporate world, with various companies ceasing to continue to provide services to WikiLeaks despite no legal measure (e.g., a court injunction) forcing them to do so. This article focuses on the legal remedies available to WikiLeaks against this corporate suppression of its speech in the U.S. and Europe since these are the two principle arenas in which the actors concerned are operating. The transatlantic legal protection of free expression will be considered, yet, as will be explained in greater detail, the legal conception of this constitutional and fundamental right comes from a time when the state posed the greater threat to freedom. As a result, it is not generally enforceable against private, non-state entities interfering with speech and expression which is the case here. Other areas of law, namely antitrust/competition, contract and tort will then be examined to determine whether WikiLeaks and its partners can attempt to enforce their right indirectly through these other means. Finally, there will be some concluding thoughts about the implications of the corporate response to the WikiLeaks embassy cables leak for freedom of expression online.en
dc.identifier.citationInternational journal of communication, 2014, Vol. 8, pp. 2693–2703en
dc.identifier.endpage2703en
dc.identifier.issn1932-8036
dc.identifier.startpage2693en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/35102
dc.identifier.volume8en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.orcid.putcode1814/78458:184761753
dc.relation.ispartofInternational journal of communicationen
dc.relation.urihttp://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2769/1235en
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessen
dc.titleInternet privatization, wikileaks, and free expressionen
dc.typeArticleen
dspace.entity.typePublication
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-7529-4213
person.identifier.other33334
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationea29aa08-4743-445b-b593-765a642fe927
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryea29aa08-4743-445b-b593-765a642fe927
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