During the Cold War the United States stood out as the country that stood up for freedom of speech and personal freedoms against the oppressive society of the Soviet Union. The days of the Berlin Wall seem much longer than 20 years ago now in the midst of the Age of Information.
The image of the United States has suffered without the example of the Soviets as the other option. Few cases display the shift in perception toward the United States more than WikiLeaks. The whistle blowing website published classified American military documents through it servers. The government of the United States responded by declaring WikiLeaks a criminal organization. America corporations backed the example of their government by blocking the site from its American servers. American banks also refused to process bank transactions for the organization.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has publicly stated that he fears extradition to the United States. Assange stated that he would be detained at Guantanamo Bay or face the death penalty. He based this assessment on the attacks he has received from both sides of the American political spectrum. Both Democratic Vice President Joe Biden and would-be Republican vice president Sarah Palin labeled Assange as a cyber terrorist.
Assange’s case brings up an important issue that needs to be answered as people continue to get their information from online sources. What difference is their between WikiLeaks, which published classified cables and the New York Times, which published the then classified Pentagon Papers years ago. Online publications are taking over the news game. If the same protections that have been afforded the traditional press in the past are not given to the online media of the future than the Era of Information could turn into a time of censorship. The form of media should matter less than the content. Open government should not be something that the United States fears whether the truth is online or in print.