Why do some people think wikileaks is good for society?

Transparency can bring greater accountability.

Another argument is that citizens of a democracy have a right to know what elected officials are doing in their name, though I don’t think this one makes sense.

What @Qingu said.

The principles of Wikileaks are unassailable. The practices of it are…questionable.

Because it’s nice to know you voted for a government that thinks kidnapping young boys, dressing them up lingerie and selling them to perverted Taliban eldars in exchange for peace is an aceptable way to win a war.

I do believe in the rights of a free press. On the other hand, I think ther needs to be a place for secrecy in diplomacy so I am very ambivalent about the necessity or efficacy of these specific leaks. I’m not sure we need to or should know every transaction that is conducted behind the scenes.

Welcome to Fluther @noly!

indeed…welcome @noly!

I agree with @Qingu. Why do you think wikileaks is bad, @noly?

@Likeradar – I don’t see anything in the question that states or by necessity implies that @noly thinks anything about Wikileaks – it’s merely isolating the responses (potentially) to the benefits of Wikileaks.

Just to be clear: I don’t think Wikileaks is a good thing as it’s currently set up and administered.

The interesting thing about Wikileaks is that the “truth” that they are supposedly exposing to the world seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the opinions that the world has formed about it.

@iamthemob Look at his profile.

@Likeradar – Ooooh…I stand corrected. My criticism, although substantively still accurate, is kind of a “lame duck” after that. That’s a lot…

In the long term this will hopefully force the government to behave more appropriately if they know that no secret will remain secret for long.

@salsero69 I think that could be potentially paralyzing.

I don’t think a site that encourages (by its very existence) the stealing of classified documents is a good thing.

I believe in sunshine laws, but this takes secret documents and makes them public.

That is not a good thing.

I am not supporting wikileaks, but there has been mention that it might actually help countries who cannot directly say things to their citizens, enemies, or allies. I agree with freedom of the press as others said above, but their needs to be responsible journalism in my opinion, not just a bunch of babble to weed through.

I think people should be able to say things behind closed doors and it stays private. But, they should not be writing those things down.

Wikileaks benefits the entire precedent for an honest government. The entire idea that a publicly-elected government “classifies” things from the citizenry. The concept of government as an American ideology is that it serves to protect your innate rights, nothing more. What we have now is a government that has more secret departments than dishes on the menu at a Greek diner.

I’m excited to see their next leak on the banks. : )
What I don’t understand is people that are ok with being kept in the dark.

I think it is ironic that the king of leaks is very upset that some private details of his defense regarding the sex charges are being leaked.

@janbb and @marinelife have both summed up my feelings, ga to you both.

Somebody has to do what they do.

There is a world of difference between his personal life made public and government secrets leaking out. The government doesn’t have rights as an individual, he does.

note: I haven’t actually read any wikileaks documents…just going by what others have said about them

With the current “information age” some people want to know everything about everything…whether it be what celebritys are doing on their free time, or what millionaires are doing with their money, or what governments are doing behind closed doors….Yes some things are good to know…..but most is not.

So if wikileaks didn’t do this….someone else would have….Also these leaks are not going to stop the government from keeping secrets….they will just learn to hide them better next time…

@classykeyser – a lot of what he leaked is no more than personal communications between people who just happen to work for the government. So I see no difference between a low ranking disgruntled soldier leaking information than a probably low paid grunt in a legal office leaking information.

The irony is he wants it both ways, his media whore alter ego wants all the attention at any price except he wants censorship rights for himself, there is the irony.

Government secrets are not in the public’s best interest for the most part. Especially when they are of the nefarious nature he has uncovered.

The only things that should be kept secret are the things that could actually help our enemies. The kind of revelations I have seen are not anywhere near that.

@YARNLADY, I disagree. A lot of the Afghan leaks could help the Taliban. For example, one log mentions the date and location of an Afghan interpreter going missing on the Helmand river. If the Taliban finds this guy, matches it up with the leaked doc, he’s dead.

That may not be likely; it might be moot because they’ve already found him, or he’s already safe. But it’s one of many examples where these documents serve absolutely no purpose in terms of the public’s interest (do we need to know the date and location of an Afghan interpreter going missing?) but could on the off chance be used by our enemies.

So people don’t get away with lies and fraud. But this doesn’t mean every information should be shared with everyone.