Connected but Disengaged: Assange’s Arrest and Imprisonment Exposes Internet Revolution

Edward Snowden and millions of supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called his arrest and imprisonment on a U.S. extradition request a “dark moment for the freedom of the press.” Prolific author Chris Hedges titled his column: “The Martyrdom of Julian Assange.” Glenn Greenwald and Daniel Ellsberg referred to it as “outrageous,” warning it will lead to the criminalization of journalism. Legal experts from around the world said the hacking charges against the free speech champion will undercut the freedom of information and right to know-the very basis of our liberty. And yet, Julian Assange remains in prison. He could also be extradited to the U.S. to face execution.

If you consider his flight from his country of birth and exile in Russia, not to mention one of “America’s Most Wanted,” Edward Snowden remains in captivity too. There’s also Chelsea Manning, Reality Winner, and many other free press martyrs. Chelsea Manning, an American activist and whistleblower, was court-martialed and tortured over disclosing damaging U.S. military and diplomatic documents tantamount to war crimes and state-sponsored lies. Reality Winner is still in jail. She’s charged with leaking NSA classified material about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Her leak included Russian hackers accessing U.S. voting-supplier software.

A Revolution That Wasn’t
One is consequently forced to wonder what happened to the democratic promise of the Internet Revolution. Looking as if it might change the rules of the game by finally holding politicians responsible or toppling authoritarian regimes, digital technology in the hands of citizens has unfortunately come up short. This new technology, which appeared to offer citizens a chance to monitor the State back, did not have the total transparency which it promised. It may have had the opposite effect, of being used to track-and eventually attack-a user or whistleblower. Either way, democracy and freedom of press should have been the beneficiary-but it wasn’t.

New digital technology may have also made people feel they’re engaged in politics and political activism when they’re only connected. This is the great paradox of technological advancements. They can voice support or disagree with a political candidate, register a call for action to free Julian Assange, and raise money for their favorite political causes. Meanwhile, the State still has the upper hand, using the same technologies to crush democratic movements and revolts or arrest whistleblowers. Sadly, technocracies are a better friend of dictators than the people-computers and dictatorship than freedom. Designed by corporate fascist states, it’s no wonder.

More Than “Watching” And Waiting
It’s also no wonder that this technology comes with obstacles to “meaningful” and public engagement. People can learn about current affairs via Facebook updates, but only within networks that are good at bringing similar people together like them. Online communities are therefore ideologically segregated. There’s also customized news consumption, screening out what one is interested in, trolls, and foreign internet agencies that plant false and misleading news. This doesn’t even account for how corporations and governments censor and bury news and information, or mine data from users for tracking and “filtering” the sites they visit.

Representative democracy and Internet useage must be more than a “watching” and waiting game. We must watch “them,” to make sure they don’t take advantage of the power we have given them, and then act publicly to make sure they don’t take our freedoms away. This means redefining hackers as journalists and leaks as investigative news and “right to know” information. It also means massively protesting the arrests of journalists like Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Reality Winner or Edward Snowden’s exile. Especially since “truth” is more powerful than knowledge, and no one should ever be imprisoned or exiled because of the truth.

Time to Arm Ourselves
Without journalists such as these, we won’t be able to hold forth the torch of democracy. In fact, our civic health of the nation is dependent on them since many already suffer from a deficient of information about policies at home and abroad. This goes for making officials and political parties accountable. We should be grateful that they equipped us to better participate in the decision making which affects our lives and to question the system which govern our lives. Meanwhile, a people that wants to be free can only do so if they arm themselves with a free press and free (and freed) journalists who report the truth, and if they have “skin in the game.”

Consequently, the time to watch is past due. It’s time to act, to prevent our own imprisonment within the autocracy of the matrix and its state-sponsored censorship of knowledge and truthful information.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.