The press freedom charity Reporters Without Borders will tomorrow begin hosting a mirrored version of the WikiLeaks website to provide alternative access to the leaked US diplomatic cables.
Reporters Without Borders said the move was a ‘gesture of support’for WikiLeaks, which has suffered harassment and several attempts to close the website in recent weeks.
The web address of the new hosted site will be wikileaks.RSF.org.
‘This is a gesture of support for WikiLeaks’ right to publish information without being obstructed,’Reporters Without Borders said.
Related
‘We defend the free flow of information on the internet and the protection of sources, without which investigative journalism cannot exist.”
Wikileaks has come under sustained attack since first publishing its US diplomatic cables earlier this month. The website was even involved in a fight to stay on the internet after the US company which provided its technical hosting withdrew its support for the site.
EveryDNS.net said it had to withdraw its support for Wikileaks on 2 December to protect its other customers being affected by a wave of cyber attacks from hackers.
Content from our partners
The move forced Wikileaks of the internet for a short time and required it to relocate its website to a Swiss domain name after it lost its .org suffix.
Just days previously Amazon threw Wikileaks off its servers denying that government inquiries prompted its removal.
The offer by Reporters Without Borders to host a Wikileaks mirror site marks a turnaround as the organisation was severely critical of the whistleblowing website in August for its decision to publish 91,000 Afghan War Logs documents.
In a full-blooded attack, the charity said that in addition to putting lives in danger, publication of the Afghan war documents risked future use of the internet as a viable source of information.
The charity accused Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of acting with “incredible irresponsibility”,’imprudence” and accused him of endangering his sources and leaving those that risk their lives to provide information more exposed to reprisals.
WikiLeaks responded dismissing the charity as “Reporters San Fact-checking” and accusing it of concocting “some idiot statement, based on a bunch of quotes we never made”.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
