Assange, a hero of free speech or a victim of freedom?

For years, he has exploited chinks in the online armour of people, institutions in the West, and unsuspecting countries

“Sad what happened to Julian Assange,” a friend who worships his brand of ‘journalism’ WhatsApps me late on Thursday while I am on my way home from work. The traffic is predictable, the other motorists are in lane, even those speeding on a track of their choice have curbed their enthusiasm to flash or tailgate. I am a creature of habit on the road

— no talking (mostly), no typing, so I decide to reply at the next traffic light.

The ping and the accompanying message have stirred some dark emotion in me. Since 2006, this guy has been a curse on governments, security agencies, corporations and even the Vatican. Wikileaks, the organisation he founded hacks into online systems and puts out documents that show individuals and institutions in poor light, in the ruse of speaking truth to power. Positive is passe.

It pleases him to be seen as the messenger who defines a message, even deifies and sanctifies it, who can make or mar fortunes and reputations.

And he doesn’t seem to know the difference between friend, foe, philanderer and philanthropist. The latest was on the power struggles within the Holy See that was published in January this year which went largely unnoticed. So I accelerate towards the nearest signal which is 10 kilometres away in a bid to gather my thoughts, worrying about the Assange saga.

My worry stems from a shot of the bearded, weary-looking Wikileaks co-founder. It showed a shaken but unbowed Assange driven away by the police. That ping drove home the WhatsApp message.

The wait at the Ghusais signal is long but it gives me time to gather my wits about me. I realise I come up with my best lines at traffic signals with the lights changing and the vehicles moving, speeding, and getting ahead of the pack.

I once thought of Julian Assange as a torchbearer of free speech, of standing up to governments, of doing the right and honourable thing for modern civilization. I was younger and naive then. I am unsure now. “Why are you feeling sorry for the bloke?” I snap on WhatsApp while I wait for the red to change to green. “He didn’t deserve it, man,” comes the brief reply.

I tell the friend that Assange took it too far this time. Imagine biting the hand that protects and feeds you? My friend’s coming round to my point of view. Seizing the opportunity, I land a verbal sucker punch with the question: “Would you invite Assange to your home? If you do, he’ll leak some personal images, unmentionables and everything from your computer.” He laughs (with a smiley) and I am pleased that I have won the argument using the crudest possible analogy. Sometimes extremes work to get the message across.

Assange went rogue and paid for it. The Ecuador embassy in London where he was holed up since 2012 turned him over to British police after he allegedly tried to expose corruption in the regime of President Lenin Moreno. The Australian’s legal team has denied the charges and allege that it was he who was put under surveillance at the embassy. The jury is out on the episode but the Wikileaks hero has clearly fallen from grace and has a lot to answer for.

Assange and his Iceland-registered site gained worldwide infamy and attention in 2010 after Wikileaks exposed US excesses in Iraq, including the video of a US chopper gunning down 18 civilians. He worked with a former military analyst named Chelsea Manning to gain access to thousands of sensitive documents and published them online. It spooked the establishment, particularly in the United States that wanted him extradited for putting national security at risk.

Since then the 47-year-old has been in hiding. Where he goes, he leaks information happily. Ecuador put up with him for seven years even as he and his army of hackers pilfered and put out sensitive stuff. Anyone, anything was fair game, except Russia, if one cared to notice. Politically, he has a lone supporter in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

Wikileaks and Assange forgot the larger cause when he breached the cult of celebrity. He wasn’t influencing the news anymore, he was the news. He was willing to be exploited and in turn exploited chinks in the online armour of people and institutions in the West and other unsuspecting countries. That was the core problem with his actions. One reason why the global media community, with the exception of newspapers like The Guardian, have not risen to his defence.

Wikileaks calls him the editor of the site, which is a misnomer. An editor factchecks and picks his battles in the public interest. Assange simply puts it all out, unfiltered. He’s a hacking genius, a crafty leaker, a cause celebre, a juvenile child of the netherweb who doesn’t know when and where to draw the line.

Has journalism benefited from his exploits? I am confused when that question is posed to me, but he has made people more wary of journalists

in these curated times. He has also shown governments how fragile they are with technology when it comes to protecting our shared interests. The thousands of documents containing sensitive information he has revealed over the years may be true but he stole them — the end does not justify the means. He may have promoted the cause of free speech, but what good is it when he has damaged our collective freedom and security?

Has journalism benefited from his exploits? I am confused when that question is posed to me, but he has made people more wary of journalists in these curated times. He has also shown governments how fragile they are with technology when it comes to protecting our shared interests.