The Dangerous Nature of Creating an Online Presence

When I first began to write blog posts my greatest concern was to make them interesting enough that others would want to read them. I gave very little thought to privacy, security issues, content sensitivity or what would happen if I really upset someone with what I said in my post. It is almost 3 years since I started my blogging journey and I am now fully aware of the repercussions of creating and maintaining an online presence. My blogs have been written within the realms of safe topics i.e I haven’t divulged anything of a sensitive nature and at the moment I don’t have to worry about who is listening to my phone calls or following me to the supermarket.  This is not the case for Julian Assange, the infamous founder of WikiLeaks, who for the past two years has been the ‘guest’ of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. In August of This Year he announced he would soon be leaving his safe haven, however it is still not apparent whether he will face extradition “to the US via Sweden“, when he is released from the embassy. He is reportedly suffering from poor health due to his confinement in the embassy and a visit to the hospital may be the first type of travelling he undertakes.

Assange has gained celebrity status for a number of reasons not including this unusual looks or his alleged sexual assault of two women in Sweden. He has earned his fame for being on a mission “for total transparency” i.e. “no secrets” and keeping in line with his mission statement he has released to the public numerous highly sensitive government documents including film footage depicting the murder of innocent Iraqi civilians by American soldiers who shot them down from an Apache helicopter.  The footage is so shocking and surreal that it is hard to believe its content.  When Assange decided to release this evidence he must have been very aware that normal life for him was over and he was unlikely to ever feel safe anywhere, ever again. Julian Assange lives the life of a spy however unlike James Bond, the famous 007 character, he is not assured of a happy and safe ending and it doesn’t look as though he will get the girl either.