Crowdfunding has gotten startups off the ground. Now it’s being used to a more controversial end: WikiLeaks is crowdfunding with the goal of leaking information about impending trade deals.
The whistleblowing platform, famous for revealing U.S. State Department cables, last week launched a campaign on its website to raise $109,700 to convince insiders to come forward with details about a trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The money would be used as a financial reward for the whistleblower, whose job might be at risk.
The framework agreement, which the U.S. and Europe are currently negotiating, “remains secret almost in its entirety, closely guarded by the negotiators, and only big corporations are given special access to its terms,” WikiLeaks states on its website. Getting the actual framework agreement is “Europe’s most wanted leak,” according to WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks decided to try the crowdfunding approach because so far it hasn’t been able to get the confidential documents any other way, said spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson. By offering money to individuals to commit a crime, WikiLeaks doesn’t break any laws, according to Mr. Hraffnsson.
The advent of crowdfunding has made it easier for groups to raise money for controversial reasons, says Richard Swart, a researcher at the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. “The key driver of most successful crowdfundings is passion,” whether it’s against a government or for gay rights, he says. With about 1,500 crowdfunding sites worldwide, it’s easy to find a platform to fit a cause, says Mr. Swart.
Any money that WikiLeaks raises can only go so far. “WikiLeaks can’t protect anyone’s job and there are serious questions as to the legal consequences a leaker might face,” says Erika A. Kelton, attorney at Phillips & Cohen LLP in Washington, D.C. Government whistleblower programs, on the other hand, shield employees who come forward as well as offer financial compensation.
WikiLeaks’ approach borrows from contemporary cyber practices, where tech corporations offer bounties to hackers who inform the companies of their security flaws, as opposed to selling the flaws to criminals, says Anapum Chander, professor at UC Davis School of Law.
It’s the second time WikiLeaks has turned to crowdfunding to try to obtain documents. In early June, it asked for $150,000 to reward whistleblowers who leak information on the Trans Pacific Partnership, a pending trade-agreement between the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and others. So far, it has raised more than $108,000, donated by over 1,800 people.
WikiLeaks launched its call for donations for the new trade deal on its website on Tuesday. By Monday, it had already raised more than $77,000. It has attracted some high-profile supporters, including former Greece finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, journalist Glenn Greenwald who exposed Edward Snowden’s revelations, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.
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