Tell the US government: Using the Espionage Act to target Julian Assange endangers freedom of the press

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Media reports indicate that the US government has filed secret charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, likely using the Espionage Act. There are many, many valid critiques of Assange, but regardless of your views on him as a person or Wikileaks as an organization, it's essential that everyone understand how using the Espionage Act in this way would set an extraordinarily dangerous legal precedent that could allow the government to target and jail legitimate journalists who expose corruption and government abuse.

From a legal perspective, Wikileaks is a publisher no different from other news organizations like the New York Times, Reuters, CNN, or Fox News. If Julian Assange is successfully prosecuted for essentially reporting on leaked information it will set a precedent that undermines the very fabric of journalism and press freedom. It could be used to threaten and imprison journalists simply for doing their jobs, gathering news, and sets a dangerous precedent that will embolden other governments to crack down on journalists who criticize them.

The US government has stretched the bounds of the Espionage Act before, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, to target whistleblowers. If they use it in this case, it will endanger not just those who expose government secrets, but the journalists who report on it. If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we need more transparency and accountability from powerful institutions, not less.

Tell the US Government: Using the Espionage Act to target Julian Assange for publishing leaked information endangers freedom of the press.