10th December, 2010

ADAM KELSALL

WikiLeaks has been hogging the news cycle a fair bit of late. The release of the secret files has captured the imagination of the public, played out against the backdrop of the arrest of the mysterious and, to some, increasingly iconic (some labeling him an electronic Che Guevera!)  founder Australian Julian Assange.

As a romantic narrative, it is the geek activist using the ‘weapons’ of modern technology versus shadowy global conspirators. The aim - unveiling secret documents with the hope of increasing transparency of governments' democratically elected by the people.

While WikiLeaks has governments scrambling to save face and the media salivating over the prospect of weeks of headlines, there is perhaps socially a bigger story unfolding.

Could WikiLeaks' information deluge mark the moment where it is universally recognised that nobody “owns” knowledge and information anymore? Is it the strongest example so far of the use of world wide web to challenge traditional power relationships?

Let's ignore the character of Assange for a moment. Let's ignore the details of the leaks. Let's focus on information and its facilitation tool...the world wide web.

Information/knowledge - define it as you like. Traditionally, information and knowledge are associated with power relationships. In effect, knowledge and power have been hierarchical and come from the top down. Those who have information/knowledge have the power, those who do not but who seek it dwell in a subservient relationship until they are deemed to have appropriate levels of knowledge. Socially, an example of this is the movement of an individual from child to adolescent  to adult. As one moves through these stages of development they seek information/knowledge firstly from their parents, then teachers and as they move into work, employers. They come of an age to vote and decide who will make bigger decisions for them about the society they live in. This process can be further enhanced through information provided by peers, mentors and so on.

If the ‘subservient’ delivers the appropriate social norms to those who have the information - that is, conforming to parents' wishes for good behavior, respecting a teacher's class rules, meeting work deadlines or voting for a chosen political party - then an information transaction takes place. So it can be seen that society is constructed of information gatekeepers one must pass through in the getting of wisdom, maturity and experience. These gatekeepers are esteemed for their role in discerning the appropriateness and delivery of information and hence play a role in the development of not only the intellectual but the social and moral development of individuals and society.

Schooling provides a case in point of how this relationship is changing. No longer does a young person require a teacher to gain information/knowledge. The teacher still has expectations of the young person to display the traditional social norms of a learning environment -  work ethic, manners, appropriate social interactions with peers. When the young person completes their side of the ‘subservient’ relationship the teacher provides a transaction of knowledge. If the young person does not conform, they are viewed as dysfunctional and not deserving of the knowledge the teacher guards. However, the young person now has reason to question the structure of this relationship; to question why they are in this subservient relationship to gain knowledge they can acquire elsewhere. Through the internet they have vast (and often overwhelmingly more engaging than a classroom whiteboard or teacher) sources of information. While schooling is also seen as pivotal to the socialisation of a child, this can now also occur wholly online. A young person can be alone in their bedroom and still be present in many communities through the use of social networks, online gaming, twitter, discussion forums and so on.

It also provides a challenge for Christian and church communities (another traditional gatekeeper of knowledge within society) whose well established means of transfer of information – the Bible, songs, sense of community and fellowship are deemed to be ‘slow’ in comparison to the rapid fire delivery of information available online.

It can be argued that the internet has nullified the role of these information gatekeepers within society.

No longer does information come top down. There is no hierarchy of information any more. Everyday people everyday post images, video’s, opinions, music...information online. Globally accessible information now comes from anyone, anytime. Who reviews, edits, controls, morally and ethically questions this glut of information? No one. Is this good or bad? Right or wrong? Will WikiLeaks will be the harbinger of these types of conversations within the public domain?

WikiLeaks is perhaps the most public example yet of this shift in our understanding of the gatekeepers of knowledge in our society.  Just as the young person questions their ‘subserviant’ relationship with teachers, perhaps more and more the public are questioning their relationships with governments they have elected and whose function they finance. Understandably governments are possibly  worried by this relationship questioning more than the information provided by WikiLeaks. Will this force more transparency in governments and international relations?

The reactions globally to WikiLeaks would suggest not. The author believes there will be one of two outcomes (or probably both at the same time).

WikiLeaks have stated that they have only released a very small percentage of documents they have available. The continued rolling out of these documents and growing pressure that results could force governments to become increasingly transparent in their decision-making processes. Conversely, governments - through the use of censorship and privacy laws - may seek to increase their power to be gatekeepers of the information available on the internet. One suspects that publicly transparency will occur while privately stricter internet controls will come into play.

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