U.S. prosecutors’ indictment ofWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could trigger a protracted fight over press freedom in the United States, warn First Amendment experts. Although the indictment, filed in a U.S. District Court in Virginia, focuses on Assange and computer hacking, the bigger issue is that his case raises fundamental questions about press freedom. “The source may be subjecting themselves to liability or may be breaking the law, but the journalist is not just by receiving it. But where Assange’s case becomes potentially threatening to journalists and press freedom, First Amendment experts say, is that prosecutors never convincingly lay out what Assange did that would rise to the level of assisting in a criminal conspiracy. If Assange is convicted without more concrete proof that his actions went well beyond that of a publisher receiving classified information, then it opens up a host of questions about who else is liable.

Source: Huffington Post April 11, 2019 22:52 UTC