Liberating Spaces

I remember very well the first (and only) time I met Julian Assange. It was November 21, 2009 in Barcelona during the first Personal Democracy Forum – Europe. Already then I was very interested in new technologies, transparency, freedom of information and disclosure and, therefore, on what Wikileaks was doing. At that time, Wikileaks was in a difficult period due to lack of funds.

A passionate and friendly Julian told me about their plans to enter into partnership with big media companies (El País, The Guardian, Le Monde and NYT) to provide them a source of money and, also, a bigger platform for their leaks. He also told me that they were sitting on very sensitive stuff that needed the right platform of diffusion…this was November 2009. One year later, Wikileaks is changing world politics.

From all what I read about cablegate, the latest Wikileaks’s publication, Aaron Bady’s piece on “Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy” is among the best. It is a commentary on early Assange’s writings on conspiracies, secrecy and the power of new technologies to open them. As zungzung says

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I arrived to the US last Monday and I am leaving again for London this afternoon, from Newark Airport. It’s been a good trip. I’ve visited DC, seen some friends, went to a conference (that was unfortunately suspended in the middle due to snow weather), enjoyed a private tour of the Metropolitan Museum and had fantastic food. Now, it is time for the second stage of my 4-week 4-country travelling period: Brussels. I’ll be there on March 3rd.

With Obama in the White House, the US government changes gear towards a more transparent administration. Now, is this vow for transparency in government, and for the use of the Internet to get people more acquainted with what’s going on behind doors having an effect beyond US borders?

The American model democracy is at its best in the world when it can predicate with the example. Its influence does not come mainly because it has big and powerful missiles, amazing military technology, or the biggest economy in the world. It comes through soft power. Is this new link between technology and democracy a new US export?