WikiLeaks defector to set up alternative

2010-11-30 21:32

Agnes Valdimarsdottir

Reykjavik - A former WikiLeaks associate said on Tuesday that he and a number of other ex-members are preparing to launch an alternative to the whistle-blower website, just days after its latest document dump rocked the world.

Student Herbert Snorrason, 25, said: "We want to set up a system that is different from WikiLeaks," adding that the project was "built on similar ideas" to those behind the organisation that has released hundreds of thousands of classified US documents in recent months.

"We broke from WikiLeaks because a few ex-WikiLeaks members had been very unhappy with the way (Julian) Assange was conducting things," said Snorrason, referring to WikiLeaks' enigmatic Australian founder.

"They realised that ideas they wanted to come across would never be received," he added.

Assange, who is wanted internationally for questioning about rape allegations in Sweden, has previously been criticised for "acting like an emperor" in running his organisation.
Nonetheless, Snorrason insisted the project was "not a personal attack on Assange or WikiLeaks."

"It is a different type of project and we do not see it as competition, nor should it be considered to be a WikiLeaks competitor," he said.

The difference, according to Snorrason, was that while WikiLeaks gathers leaked documents and dumps them on its site, the new project will be "a safe haven where people can share information anonymously.

"We will not be publishing information ourselves, but rather be the hub of where people can upload information without having to be associated with what they upload," he explained.

The structure will also be different from WikiLeaks to avoid one person gaining overall control, he said.

- SAPA