WikiLeaks had a prominent role in the Arab Spring, acting as a catalyst and pushing global information to a point where the US and other Western countries could not prop up Arab dictatorships anymore, according to WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange.

Speaking at a Frontline Club event in East London, alongside renowned Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and investigative journalist Amy Goodman, Assange said he had lived in Egypt in 2007 and was familiar with Mubarak regime.

“The economic basis and the technological basis of Cairo seems pretty much the same as London," he said. "If we say that it is democracy that rules and manages the United States, or it is electoral democracy that rules and manages London, then this is completely ridiculous. Because when we look at countries that are dictatorships – or soft dictatorships – the day to day life for most people is exactly the same."

Assange also claimed that the Tunisian government had blocked the website of Lebanese news organisation Al-Akhbar website shortly after prohibiting access to Wikileaks.

“Tahrir square was important because people could see many others had similar views while the media suggested they were a minority,” Assange said.

Talking about his recent decision to sue Mastercard and Visa after they had cut off services to the secret-spreading website last December, Assange dubbed the two companies as “instruments of
Washington’s patronage policy”.

He also claimed that Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg had told him the New York Times had 1,000 pages of the Papers for one month before Ellsberg gave them to the American newspaper.

The Australian publisher also conversed candidly about Bradley Manning, the US soldier who was arrested in 2010 in Iraq over allegations of leaking secreted material to WikiLeaks.

“When people of high moral character like Bradley Manning are pressured by power, they
become stronger,” he said, adding that between 19 to 23 people are on the Wikileaks Grand Jury in Virginia.

“If there’s anybody who deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, it’s Bradley Manning,” said Žižek to applause.

“I call this an ethical miracle: there are people who still care. We should not leave dignifying morality to agencies like the Catholic Chruch.”

Later, the Slovenian philosopher spoke about human rights, claiming that torture “even if
conducted out of despair” should never be “legalistic and therefore normalised”. The truth, according
to Žižek, needs to be “contextualized, rationalised and confronted”.

“WikiLeaks is not only telling the truth, but telling it in a precise way,” he said. “You’re here because you think change is possible, and probably you’re right. Most internet-educated young people see new values of spread of new information and get their hands on the machinery.”

Referring to the fact that the original venue had cancelled the booking because WikiLeaks was deemed ‘too controversial’, Assange said that there wouldn’t have been such problems five years ago, but it was unlikely also that 2000 people would be prepared to pay £25 to attend.

When asked about the allegations of rape made against him and the possibility that he could face extradition to Sweden, Assange was critical of the European Arrest Warrant system.

“Extradition without charge is Kafkaesque,” agreed Žižek, who concluded that WikiLeaks “pushes us to the point that we can no longer pretend not to know.

“Even if you ignore WikiLeaks, it has changed the field,” he said. “Nobody can pretend that WikiLeaks didn’t happen.”

Part I of our reports on the event can be found here. Full video of the event can be watched here and read our live blog of the event here.

A "new McCarthyism" has emerged in response to WikiLeaks and is evidenced in the calls for assassination by US politicians, the site’s editor-in-chief said today.

Julian Assange, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! shared a stage at a packed Frontline Club event at the Troxy in London’s east end to discuss the impact of WikiLeaks.

Goodman read the statements made against him by US politicians, including Sarah Palin who said he had "blood on his hands" and asked the Australian, who is 40 tomorrow (3 July), to respond.

"Obviously they are wrong and outrageous," he said, referring to calls for his assassination made by the likes of Tom Flanagan, a former aide to the Canadian prime minister. "It is worrying that a new Mccarthyism can come up so quickly."

Focusing on 2007 footage released by WikiLeaks last year showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, Goodman said: "Information is a matter of life or death… If more people had seen the videos before they might have asked for an investigation. This is why information is so powerful and important."

Assange said that the Iraq War Logs provided insight into the "everyday squalor of war" and were the only account of the thousands of Iraqis killed.

"It is of course controversial, but the result was finally that we were the only ones in the world to report that story," he said.

The impact of WikiLeaks was emphasised by Žižek during the first part of the debate.

"If you give me a couple of hours I will explain it properly," he joked. "First of all we need to consider the context where the leaks acted. We need to consider the way ideology works today. Let’s not be naieve, people knew about the things that were revealed even before, the point is that now they are not allowed anymore to ignore them."

Pointing out the essential difference between abstract and concrete knowledge, Žižek, who is famous for his temperament, said: "Isn’t it different if you know that your wife is cheating on you and if you actually see her while doing so!

"WikiLeaks has not simply changed the rules,” he said to Assange, "it changed the way we violate the rules, the rules of bourgeois media."

Focusing on the mainstream media, Assange credited the US channel Fox News for showing more of the Iraq video and ultimately reporting more of the story than CNN had.

Žižek said that Assange was "a terrorist" in the same way that Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi was. "As he tried to subvert the British colonial system, Assange is trying to interrupt the normal flow of information. This is a real revolution."

Part II of our reports on the event will soon follow. Full video of the event can be watched here and read our live blog of the event here. Photo by Charlotte Cook.

Frontline Club Exclusive: Julian Assange in conversation with Slavoj Žižek moderated by Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman

Last year, whistleblower website WikiLeaks released three of the biggest ever leaks of classified information in history: the Iraq War Logs, the Afghanistan War Logs and Cablegate.

Since then the world has undoubtedly changed. Ambassadors have resigned amid scandals exposed by leaked cables; the UK government has ordered a review of computer security; and, at the same time, a huge wave of protest has swept the Middle East and North Africa – in part fuelled, some believe, by WikiLeaks revelations.

Discussing the impact of WikiLeaks on the world and what it means for the future, for this very special event WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange will be in conversation with renowned Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek.

Focusing on the ethics and philosophy behind WikiLeaks’ work, the talk will provide a rare opportunity to hear two of the world’s most prominent thinkers discuss some of the most pressing issues of our time.

It will also mark the publication of the paperback edition of Living in the End Times, in which  Žižek argues that new ways of using and sharing information, in particular WikiLeaks, are one of a number of harbingers of the end of global capitalism as we know it.

The event will be chaired by Amy Goodman, the award-winning investigative journalist and host of Democracy Now!, a daily, independent news hour which airs on the internet and more than 900 public television and radio stations worldwide.

EXTERNAL EVENT HELD AT THE TROXY (MAP). Troxy is a public transport destination, please use public transport wherever possible.

On Saturday, 2 July Julian Assange, editor-in-chief of whistleblower website WikiLeaks will be "in conversation" with Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek and award-winning investigative journalist Amy Goodman.

In the build up to what should be a fascinating event, focusing on the ethics and philosophy behind WIkiLeaks, Frontline Club is posting a series of blogs giving an insight into the thinking of Assange and  Žižek.

Here is a round up blog post by Will Spens, published in December last year, of the talks and discussions Assange took part in at the Frontline Club:

26 July 2010

WikiLeaks: Afghan War Logs – Julian Assange holds press conference at Frontline Club.

Subsequent to the previous evening’s release of 90,000 classified US military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan between 2004-2010, Julian Assange gave a press conference at the Frontline Club in front of many British and international journalists.

You can read a summary of the event and watch the video here.

Further links to media coverage of this press conference can be accessed here.

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27 July 2010

Special event: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Frontline Club.

Julian Assange was joined by the BBC’s Paddy O’Connell to engage the audience on the impact of the leaked classified documents which chronicle in detail US military operations in Afghanistan between 2004-2010.

A video and audio podcast of the event can be accessed here.

An interview with Julian Assange about the best and worse case scenarios for WikiLeaks can be found here, along with more analysis of the evening.

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12 August 2010

The data revolution: How WikiLeaks is changing journalism.

The controversy surrounding WikiLeaks’ historic release of more than 70,000 classified US military documents on the war in Afghanistan has not died down. But one thing is certain: online data and its dissemination is changing journalism and the relationship between the public and those in power. In this special event, we asked: 

• How are organisations like WikiLeaks changing the way public data is released?
• What do the Afghan War Logs mean for the mainstream media and government media relations?
• What are the legal implications of the War Logs files’ release?

You can read a summary of the event and watch the video here.

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25 October 2010

WikiLeaks: Iraq War Logs – Julian Assange and Daniel Ellsberg in conversation.

Following the leak by WikiLeaks of almost 400,000 secret US army field reports from the Iraq war between 2004 and 2009, Julian Assange was at the Frontline Club in conversation with one of the most famous whistle blowers in history, Daniel Ellsberg, who was responsible for the leak of the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

The event was chaired by Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News correspondent.

A summary and a video of the event can be found here.

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1 December 2010

WikiLeaks: The US embassy cables

Following the release of of 251,287 confidential United States embassy cables, December’s First Wednesday debate focused on the revelations of this latest leak from whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.

You can read a summary of the evening here and access a video here.

There are still a few tickets left for this Saturday’s unique opportunity to hear WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange in conversation with renowned Slovenian philosopher Slavoj

There are still a few tickets left for this Saturday’s unique opportunity to hear WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange in conversation with renowned Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. The discussion, which will be moderated by Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman, will focus on the ethics and philosophy behind the work of WikiLeaks and its effect on political institutions globally.

Next week Colin Freeman will be recounting his experience of being kidnapped by Somali pirates and Peter Greste who has recently been in the country for BBC’s Panorama will be talking about the Somali people’s struggle to forge a life in a lawless land.

For July’s First Wednesday, a panel of experts will be discussing the expansion of kill/capture missions in Afghanistan, their effect on the ground and how they level with counter-insurgency hearts and minds strategy.

Follow us on Twitter and catch up on any events you missed on the Forum blog or download our podcasts on iTunes.

ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

If you want to get a measure of what you can expect from renowned philosopher Slavoj Žižek on Saturday, then take a look at the video above, which shows his talk at the RSA last year.

The Slovenian, who is widely held as one of the most influential living philosophers, will be speaking with WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange and award-winning investigative journalist Amy Goodman at a special Frontline Club event on Saturday (2 July).

The subject of the video above is the economic crisis and the end of global capitalism, titled First as Tragedy, then as Farce, which is the title of his 2009 book. On Saturday Žižek will be turning his thoughts to the ethics and philosophy behind WikiLeaks.