WikiLeaks' impact: an unfiltered look into the world's elite and powerful
The release of a quarter of a million US diplomatic cables leaked by Chelsea Manning, the US army whistleblower whose 35-year sentence was commuted by President Obama on Tuesday, had a powerful impact on the practice of diplomacy around the world.
Chelsea Manning: majority of prison sentence commuted by Barack Obama
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From November 2010 on, the knowledge that their classified reports might ultimately go viral online made US diplomats think twice about what they wrote back to Washington and made their foreign contacts think twice about what they told the diplomats.
The cables may even have played a part in sparking the Arab spring revolt. The colourful accounts of the opulent lifestyles of the family of Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, circulated on Twitter and Facebook, acted as an accelerant to the rage of the country’s disaffected youth.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/17/wikileaks-impact-diplomatic-cables-chelsea-manning
