WikiLeaks Organization Sparks Controversy

27 July 2010

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks during a press conference in London, 26 Jul 2010. Assange said he believes there is evidence of war crimes in the thousands of pages of leaked U.S. military documents.

The WikiLeaks website says the organization began as a dialogue between activists who wanted to alleviate suffering. It says the organization champions "principled leaking."

Since 2007 WikiLeaks has posted thousands of documents on the internet. Founder Julian Assange sees himself as an information activist whose main goal is to get information into the public domain. He says he has a small, overworked staff, about 800 part time workers and thousands of supporters.

"I suppose our greatest fear is we will be too successful too fast, and we will not be able to do justice to the material we are getting in fast enough," said Assange. "That is our greatest problem at the moment."

WikiLeaks is non-profit and Assange says during the past few months there has been tremendous financial support.

"We have raised a million dollars from the general public. As a result we are enabled to have a sort of fierce independence that larger organizations find more difficult. That said, of course, we are also immediately accountable to the public because that is where our money comes from, directly from the public, not from advertisers or foundations," said Assange.