Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wikileaks has some friends
The Guardian reports that some influential ffriends and allies are coming to support Wikileaks in their battle to be seen in the US.
The American civil liberties union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a legal motion on behalf of Wikileaks users, defending their right to access the website without censorship.
"Journalists, academics, and the general public have a legitimate interest in accessing the materials found on Wikileaks in order to inform their work and participate in public debate," ACLU staff attorney Ann Brick said in a statement.
"Blocking access to the entire site in response to a few documents posted there completely disregards the public's right to know. It's unconstitutional and un-American."
In a separate court filing today, an alliance of American reporters filed a motion supporting on behalf of Wikileaks, arguing that the website's closure violates the freedom of speech guaranteed in the Constitution.
The alliance — which includes the Associated Press, Gannett news service, the Los Angeles Times newspaper and other media outlets — cited the famous "Pentagon Papers" case of 1971, when the administration of Richard Nixon sought a restraining order against newspapers that published leaked documents on the Vietnam war.
"Under [the] Pentagon Papers [case], the first amendment prohibits prior restraints [on freedom of speech] in nearly every circumstance, even where national security may be at risk and the … source is alleged to have obtained the documents unlawfully," the media alliance wrote in its filing.
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