WikiRebels: The Fight For Free Access to Information

Julian Assange and his group of hackers fighting for the access to classified information to make free to the general public has brought on a new form of journalism, new revolution, and hell for the information agencies that Assange and his team are attacking. The WikiRebels aims to influence a new age of informal press, encouraging everyone in the world to know what the governments work extremely hard to keep secret. This new platform of ghost networking, is a sub-culture of individuals itself, filled with anonymous people from all over the world in small internet cafes and study rooms. It is not a culture run on the idea that people are supposed to impose a certain image but instead is comprised of individuals who expose the truth because they believe that people have the right to know and make informed decisions.

Knowledge is the ultimate weapon and always has been. It has the power to change lives, change countries, and it even put a man on the moon. When it is withheld it is because it is deemed dangerous if it were to be exposed to the public, should it get into the wrong hands. Yet, much of the content on Wikileaks is full of incidences where the private citizen is the target. Be it from chemical testing to American soldiers executing innocent civillians, it still has the power to influence the way the public thinks, speaks, and consumes mass media as well as corporate products. What the consumer believes is right or wrong will depend on what they consume. If the private citizen watches a Wikileak video of a Canadian soldier killing children overseas, it changes the way they think about the Canadian Military as well as their country on an ethical standard. They may no longer support the  Candian Military after video-after-video of the same footage. So it is clear how much of an impact Wikileaks can have in shocking the general public to the point where they feel like so much is wrong with this world that they are essentially overwhelmed with outrage; ironically over something that has so little impact on their lives that they'll probably forget about it the next day or two.

This sub-culture of a virtual collective spirit working towards a better informed society is indeed, a culture no different of those of Graffiti culture, where their means of expressing their ideologies and identity is nothing more than "vandalism." A sub-culture of delinquent hackers who appear like targets of high-school bullies, whose skill and ability to steal government documents without a trace is something one would think only God could do. Unlike graffiti culture, the individualist spirit is lost. The hackers become one identity portrayed by Anonymity, Guy Fawkes being the mascot for their terrorizing acts towards a better super-power by destroying the image of a corrupt one; thrown out in the open to be criticized, judged, and ridiculed by the eyes of the world; Almost like a metaphor for how close Fawkes came to blowing up Parliament in the belief he was bettering the people. He is but the front man that embodies the collective spirit of the anonymous mass looking for change. Beautiful isn't it?

Upon being rushed with this mass of information that sounds like the end of the world, people must feel like everything they had just consumed (all being negative) will of course mean negative reactions and negative results. We are shown the one sided coin, a negative spectrum over our governments, our armed forces, the food we eat, the things we listen to and what we watch as consumers. We feel targeted as vulnerable people living in a demanding society where everything is supposed to be running smoothly and for that we are enraged that the government in which we instill faith and trust is keeping secrets and betraying us. And for what? We cannot help but imagine why, but if it's being kept secret we feel threatened. It is all uncensored, unedited and, of course, cited by an anonymous poster who demands that the public see it clearly with all the facts and in complete context from a third party. We see these things on the internet but for what? For change? Aimlessly reading document after document of terrible reports on what you eat everyday, who the US has invaded and for what, where your tax money is going, and who shot who does not evoke change. We cannot just stop at awareness but we get the point. It is time to openly exchange ideas for solutions where to take action. The fight for free access to information is on-going and not just an sub-culture of online hacking vigilante journalists but people who believe in the collective spirit of bettering the planet and everything that is wrong with it but we must remember that everything has a two sided coin. We must not forget that information access can be dangerous and be used against us. Remember to read smart and think critically of what we consume in media and on a daily basis. Question everything.