Nachiket Mhatre, Dec 10, 2010 1756 hrs IST
Distances itself from exposes; will instead pass on the information to independent news media
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With the big brother closing in on beleaguered WikiLeaks architect Julian Assange, his former partners at the project are deserting him for a similar project. Christened Openleaks, the new non-profit organisation is founded by the former associates of Assange at WikiLeaks. The erstwhile partners claim, on the condition of anonymity, that Assange's high-handed approach is what made them break off into a separate entity.
Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter quoted one of the founders, 'As a short-term goal, this is about completing the technical infrastructure and ensuring that the organization continues to be democratically governed by all its members, rather than limited to one group or individual.' The ex-partners claim Assange's personal problems disrupted WikiLeaks from its goals. They contended that his experiences from the past were motivating his autocratic approach in pursuing issues without taking the collective into consideration.
In a clear departure from WikiLeaks' ethos, Openleaks will not directly publish the exposes. It will instead pass on the same to independent media entities. Openleaks intends to position itself as a neutral mediator with no political agenda. According to them, this will shield them from government wrath. The basic idea behind the move is to place the burden of editing and authenticating the information to third parties. The governments and other entities at the receiving will then have to contend with the independent media, which Openleaks believes would be more resilient against such pressures.
