When Google Met Wikileaks
by Julian Assange · first published 2014
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A firsthand account of Julian Assange's 2011 interview with Eric Schmidt and the Google Ideas team, offering an eye-opening look at Silicon Valley's ties to Washington. It is an excellent, fun read on tech and power.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In June 2011, Julian Assange received an unusual visitor: the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, arrived from America at Ellingham Hall, the country residence in Norfolk, England where Assange was living under house arrest. For several hours the besieged leader of the world’s most famous insurgent publishing organization and the billionaire head of the world’s largest information empire locked horns. The two men debated the political problems faced by society, and the technological solutions engendered by the global network—from the Arab Spring to Bitcoin. They outlined radically opposing pers
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Not at all surprising if you've read When Google Met Wikileaks[0] That being said, how delusional do you have to be working in a political think tank and think it'll be ok to cheer a multi-billion dollar fine against your main financial contributor. This guy got…
on “Criticizing Google got me fired” ↗Well, I don't know if they'd really fit the bill for you, but what comes to my mind is stuff by Jaron Lanier, and "When Google Met Wikileaks" by Julian Assange. Assange actually seems similar to Chomsky to me because of the depth and breadth of his knowledge.
on “The Noam Chomsky of IT” ↗Julian Assange wrote an excellent book on this topic called "when Google met wikileaks" about a decade ago which i found to be eye-opening. The backdrop is the "arab spring" uprisings of the early 10s, which were widely touted by leaders in both silicon Valley and Washington as an example…
on “Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content” ↗The two books from his earlier self, Cypherpunks and When Google Met Wikileaks, are well worth the read for anyone who comments here on HN, I think. I agree, he changed dramatically sometime around or during the Trump campaign; I hardly recognize him any longer.
on “Ecuador cuts off Julian Assange's internet access at London embassy” ↗…receiving end of a rubber hose interrogation, or ... Really, at this point, it's hard to say for certain with all the spooks involved and the circumstances of the major players. That said, I maintain that "When Google Met Wikileaks" and "Cypherpunks" are excellent reads.
on “Activist Publishes 11,000 Private DMs Between Wikileaks and Its Supporters” ↗This is a feature for Google, not a bug. I suggest you read “When Google met Wikileaks” [0] for a nice read related to this topic, including discussions with former U.S. Department of State people brought in to run Google ideas. [0] https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/when-google-met-wikileaks/
on “Why has Google hired so many ex-CIA agents to run its most important operations” ↗read "when google met wikileaks", tech giants are more than happy to help with national security
on “US border forces are seizing Americans' phone data and storing it for 15 years” ↗See also: the entire history of Silicon Valley When Google Met Wikileaks is a fun read, billionaire CEOs love to take Americas side.
on “Statement from Dario Amodei on Our Discussions with the Department of War” ↗I'm starting to read "When Google Met WikiLeaks" by Assange. In this book Schmidt is the villain. It will be nice to match Assange's point of view with all the eulogies that we will read about Schmidt now.
on “Eric Schmidt Steps Down from Alphabet’s Board of Directors” ↗Assange's "When Google met Wikileaks" comes to mind... https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/
on “Eric Schmidt to head new Pentagon innovation board” ↗Currently reading: - "When Google Met Wikileaks" by Julian Assange - 1984 by George Orwell
on “Ask HN: What is HN reading?” ↗in order to believe that you must believe that WL's journalism does not stand on its own That doesn't really follow. Wikileaks has a very strong agenda. If you read Assange's book "When Google met WikiLeaks"[1] it's pretty clear what it is. It's possible to believe that the leaks are real docs, but that Wikileaks timed their release to maximize their effect on the US election, and that matters a lot. I…
on “The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange” ↗Assange's encounter with the big G, as documented in his "When Google Met Wikileaks," leaves little to the imagination on how tightly Google has been integrated with the US Department of State.
on “Mourning Google” ↗…you a relatively small social circle, considering the grand scheme of humanity at almost 7.5 billion people. Consider also the allegations of Google being a de facto branch of the state department in When Google Met Wikileaks (2011). It may be the case these people are all friends or acquaintances and enjoy the opportunity to work with each other.
on “Google Engineers Refused to Build Security Tool to Win Military Contracts” ↗…>> To date, CloudFlare has never received an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court […because they never had to ask in the first place] My paranoia was cemented by the book When Google Met Wikileaks. Silicon Valley types do not have to be coerced to share data with 3 letter agencies, they have aligned incentives to ensure American dominance. Which is fine with me, as an American, but I won’t pretend…
on “Why is Cloudflare Pages' bandwidth unlimited?” ↗