"Maybe he is the Napoleon of our times because there is a global concern against inequality. If these documents are true, he might become the hero of a new order".
This is how Assoc. Prof. Gülseren Adaklı from the Ankara University Faculty of Communications described Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks.
Adaklı considers the disclosed documents as rather influential for different societies "in terms of solidifying their conspiracy theories". The academic thinks that in any case it will be possible to establish a new class order since the information published on WikiLeaks also reaches the people who do not have direct access to the website.
In an interview with bianet, Adaklı referred to the comment of Suheyl Batum, Secretary-General of the Republican People's Party (CHP), who said "The allegations conveyed by these documents make governments topple". According to the academic, this is very unlikely to happen.
"I agree with the fact that the social media built upon new technologies created huge opportunities for the people. However, this 'technological determinism' hides the fact that not everybody is able to access information to an equal extent", Adaklı explained.
"Freedom of expression is being utterly oppressed..."
Adaklı drew attention to "the forces that direct this information" included in the more than 251,000 documents to be published:
* We know that in an environment where this much of data flows, the political power tries to direct that data and focuses on its strength. Considering news sources, again we are facing huge media and communication companies. It is again the New York Times that is setting the main agenda, not a blogging company...
* Freedom of speech is oppressed to such an extent that people had to turn to this sort of new social area. This sort of developments pave the way to new fields as a political initiative since the production of information was being monopolized.
* It is impossible not to admire the strategy followed by WikiLeaks to reach even more people with the documents. Yet beyond the shifting of the place of power, it is even more important whether a social network will be created by preparing the ground for a physical change in society and reaching true information that can be openly accessed by everybody all over the world.
* How do these documents reach the Turkish people, for instance? Distribution and access are among the most important things in the process of communication in the media. A social and class power can emerge if you convey true and meaningfully interpreted information to the people. A network should be established that supports the oppressed, conveys true and open information and is accessible by everybody. If this kind of network could be established, then we would be able to say that WikiLeaks created a physical change in the societies. (BT/EÜ/VK)
