Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Journalistic publications, including WikiLeaks, exist to tell the people the truth — even when the government tries to spin it or hide it. Confronting uncomfortable truths is necessary in a democracy; for this reason, I am deeply concerned with the U.S. government’s prosecution of Julian Assange.
It is already hard enough to get the truth to the public. Sometimes it takes brave whistleblowers willing to leak secrets, knowing they are putting their careers and freedom on the line. Soon, however, the journalists who help reveal these secrets might be targets of prosecution.
If Assange is extradited to the United States to face 175 years in prison for journalism, it would set a dangerous legal precedent that could affect press freedom around the world. If reporting in the public interest becomes a crime simply because the government declares something a secret, we fall deeper into our worst authoritarian tendencies.
