According to an official statement from the group they are stopping all support for the site and Assange “But what we will do is cease from this day all support of any kind for WikiLeaks or Julian Assange” was the statement made. Anonymous also plans to publish a listing of “unethical actions” that have been performed by WikiLeaks. Although we could have told you this would eventually happen to WikiLeaks it is still interesting to see it happen like this and during a time when many people are using the fast approaching US election to solicit change. We have seen Megaupload founder, Kim Dotcom, asking people to vote for the candidate that promises the return of Megaupload data and also that people vote Obama and Biden out of office due to their alleged ties to the MPAA and RIAA.  Unfortunately for WikiLeaks they made the decision to support this change compulsory.

The Paywall was urging readers to “vote with their wallet” and support WikiLeaks, it was and is a poorly chosen wording as voting with your wallet is generally meant for the consumer market. The message that a Paywall puts across is one of greed and elitism and is not the type of message that a site dedicated to exposing corporate and governmental greed and corruption should ever have. Anonymous appears to feel the same way with the comment:

“Regardless of any workarounds, the fact remains that a meretricious page is placed for the majority of visitors that cannot be closed. The obvious intention is to force donations in exchange for access. This is a filthy and rotten, wholly unethical action – and Anonymous is enraged”

In the end WikiLeaks will suffer for their move as they will lose the protection of Anonymous and a major source of their information. Anonymous will continue to dox companies and people, but they will use their own outlets for this information instead of pushing anything in the direction of WikiLeaks. They have stated that they will not attack WikiLeaks, but they are really doing something much worse by turning their back on them and pulling all support from the site. As we said earlier; this was pretty much inevitable as the site and Assange’s ego appeared to inflate over the last few years. It will be very interesting to see what WikiLeaks does now that they have lost a major supporter and one of their best sources for information. Just how long can they last without Anonymous is anyone’s guess.

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