Attacks on Wikileaks forum

“As a dissenting #Wikileaks supporter, I can confirm this behavior – it’s the main reason I rarely cover WL anymore.” – exiledsurfer
Note: please see the updates – the Forum has announced it will re-open.
On 13th October 2012, the Wikileaks Forum (henceforth called “Forum”) closed their site, their twitter account, and their facebook page.  Tweets sent at the time cited threats against their staff and the family of their staff.
Wikileaks forum was set up by Wikileaks as a discussion area for all things Wikileaks:
Keep an eye on our board at #WikiLeaks Forum for projects and open questions. wikileaks-forum.com/index.php/boar…
— WikiLeaks Press (@wlpress) November 17, 2011
The attacks on the forum may be a surprise to some people, but not to those who follow Wikileaks closely.  From where did the attacks come? From the CIA? A shady corportation? No: we believe that the attacks came from a group of hardcore Wikileaks supporters that are known as “Assangistas” on twitter.  The Forum had decided to broaden the debate and invite critics to take part as well.  @Objectivier was given a board to air his views, but Forum welcomed everyone to come and comment, in the belief that free and open debate can never be a bad thing. This did not endear them to all other Wikileaks supporters:
I fully agree with @cabledrummer. Dont know what happened at @wikileaks_forum but admins are now more interested in “debate” than truth. — Jaraparilla (@jaraparilla) September 19, 2012
The Jaraparilla twitter account is run by Gary Lord, who claims to be a journalist, and who contributes to wlcentral and (previously) the Forum itself.  While people like Mr Lord do not reflect the views of all Wikileaks supporters, people like him and Rick Downes of Rixstep are quite active in Wikileaks, and are apparently quite well connected in the organisation. Forum also publicly distanced themselves from the famous tweet sent from the @Wikileaks feed, comparing the storming of the US Embassy in Libya with Julian Assange’s situation in the Ecadorian embassy in London, and claiming that the USA had given “tacit approval” for such violence. Forum distancing themselves from such tweets drew an immediate response from @AssangeC and others:
@wikileaks_forum …Well now aren’t you a bunch of gutless wonders…..change your name to something more appropriate… WetYr PantsForum? — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 13, 2012
 
I do appreciate the efforts of active members at @wikileaks_forum. There are many other ways to support WikiLeaks. Start a new forum! — Jaraparilla (@jaraparilla) September 14, 2012
 
@wikileaks_forum No ,think 4 yourself & then decide: Should u speak 4 others? What’spersonal? What’s public? What R repercussions? — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
 
@wikileaks_forum. Needs to focus on the big picture……Wikileaks — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
Which was picked up by the twitter accounts who regularly attack critics of Wikileaks:
RT @zulu4o1: Please Note This Connection to https://www.wikileaks-forum .com/ is Untrusted RT @wikileaks_forum #assange @assangec
@wikileaks_forum Why? You’ve missed the point of what he was pointing out – UK set the precedent. Grow a pair, you numbskulls. — WikiLeaksLover (@NOH8ER) September 13, 2012
AssangeC retweeted some to her followers:
RT @zulu4o1: Please Note This Connection to https://www.wikileaks-forum .com/ is Untrusted RT @wikileaks_forum #assange @assangec
— Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
 
RT @dariarudn: @assangec actually many supporters disappointed with @wikileaks_forumIt seems to betray our ideals. #WikiLeaks #Assange — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 17, 2012
The attacks were now on – some of which AssangeC again retweeted: showing tacit approval of the actions of these accounts.
@assangec @wikileaks_forum The problem aren’t the members but the owner and his admins — Cabledrum (@Cabledrummer) September 16, 2012
 
RT @dariarudn: @assangec actually many supporters disappointed with @wikileaks_forumIt seems to betray our ideals. #WikiLeaks #Assange — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 17, 2012
 
RT @treisiroon: Deleted my account at @wikileaks_forum. Recent activity does not represent me or my views on #Wikileaks or #Assange. cc… — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
 
RT @jaraparilla: Sadly the people behind @wikileaks_forum have fallen victim to media smears, do not fully support #WikiLeaks, and can n … — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
 
RT @jaraparilla: I suggest followers of @wikileaks_forum follow @wlpress instead. People who do not support WikiLeaks should stop using… — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
 
The Friends of Wikileaks Austria asked via their twitter account for evidence:
Would anybody just show me ONE smear by @wikileaks_forum ? (And no, allowing discussion doesn’t count as smear). *waiting for proof*
— FoWL Austria (@FoWLAustria) September 19, 2012
The Tweet has not received a single reply.
It wasn’t long before the “naming and shaming” began by the attack accounts – listing the admins of the site and giving their twitter account details. We have the URL and screencap of that tweet, but we are not going to publish here, since those listed have since been the subject of the threats that have forced the forum offline. Other tweets started to give what they claim is the first name of one of the admins. We are not publishing those.
AssangeC got in on the “real name” demands:
@wikileaks_forum WF has 36,000 Members.Person who continues 2 attack Julian anon under WF name should do so under their OWN NAME.Who R U? — Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 17, 2012
which was followed by demands to stay away from the forum and various other things:
To Delete yr @wikileaks_forum acct: Under profile, click “Account Settings” & go to “Actions” (next to “Modify Profile”) & “Delete Account” — treisiroon (@treisiroon) September 24, 2012
 
@vaporoner The “Official WikiLeaks Forum” is supposed to support WikiLeaks instead of atacking them. Thus, their name might be inappropriate — Cabledrum (@Cabledrummer) August 21, 2012
 
@cabledrummer cut the cord…this is not the time to piss about. Forum Schmorum either it floats like a duck or it is killed with fire — AGITATE THE STATE (@lesleyblood) September 19, 2012
The Forum started to block the people who were attacking and insulting them:
. @assangec has @wikileaks_forum blocked you yet? They jst blocked me for pointing out that this public feuding is BS. twitter.com/treisiroon/sta… — treisiroon (@treisiroon) September 16, 2012
but note that that is not the tweet that earned the block; we think it was this one:
@treisiroon @wikileaks_forum @cabledrummer no, let me clarify. That “sound like 4 year olds” was unfair. You sound like fucking idiots. — treisiroon (@treisiroon) September 16, 2012
or maybe this one:
@assangec @wikileaks_forumLike dogs fighting over a bone whilst the house gets robbed. Shameful and embarrassing. — treisiroon (@treisiroon) September 16, 2012
Certainly there is persistent rudeness from that account – and it is hard to criticise the decision of the Forum to block it. Then the blocking was used and RT’d as further criticism:
RT @treisiroon: @wikileaks_forum obviously, Wikileaks supporters don’t have a right to disagree with @wikileaks_forum without being bloc …
— Christine Assange (@AssangeC) September 16, 2012
Longtime watchers of this scene find this vaguely amusing, as AssangeC and Wikileaks regularly block anyone who expresses disapproval – they don’t even have to be rude.  And they even block journalists. But all the above was not the start of the campaign against the Forum. At one point, on twitter, a bot had been set up to automatically reply to their tweets, in an attempt to discredit them. This is another known tactic of Wikileaks supporters, as can be seen by the bot that stalks @6 with obscenities. The bot always mentioned “Cabledrum”, and there is an account by that name – one of the more vocal critics of the Forum, and the account that started naming the admins.
Since I haven’t the time to respond to each single lie from @wikileaks_forum I take only this one for example: twitter.com/wikileaks_foru… (1/9) — Cabledrum (@Cabledrummer) September 19, 2012
 
@wikileaks_forum You’re not important enough for a petition, your personal secret service failed — Cabledrum (@Cabledrummer) August 21, 2012
 
@greekemmy @assangec @wikileaks_forum Some @objectiviser background twitpic.com/awj5kl — Cabledrum (@Cabledrummer) September 20, 2012
Note that the tweet is actually talking about @PGPBOARD, not @Objectiviser. But conflation is quite normal in this area, and many critical accounts are accused of being sockpuppets of PGPBOARD at some point. The replies to that last tweet are also worth a read, just to savour the sort of atmosphere in this sort of exchange. In any case, the campaign by Cabledrummer has been successful:
. @casspf @assangec @nicsha Objectiviser is a troll. It is excellent news that @wikileaks_forum has closed. Thanks largely to @cabledrummer. — WikiLeaksKayak (@WikiLeaksKayak) October 13, 2012
(see here and here for the two Objectiviser tweets that earned a block; twitter only shows one on that thread)
In any case, the celebrations have begun:
Some fancy troll smear slaying today truth seeker/soldiers…much appreciated…onwards & upwards.. #Assange #WikiLeaks #Auspol #Svpol
— Christine Assange (@AssangeC) October 13, 2012
 
This account has been created as a bookmark for the next #WIKILEAKS forum. This one will be trustworthy! Let me know if you want to help.
— WL_Forum (@WL_Forum) October 14, 2012
 
yet the attacks have not ceased:
Good riddance to @wikileaks_forum. A new, trusted #WikiLeaks forum is coming. @casspf @nicsha @assangec @cabledrummer @wikileaks @m_cetera
— WL_Forum (@WL_Forum) October 14, 2012
 
This new account assumes the threats are not real, but then in the same tweet it likens them to the very real death threats received by us at Wikiwatch.
[REDACTED] justifies closing WL forum as a way to “protect staff”. Interesting that WL trolls are now using same “death threats” argument.
— WL_Forum (@WL_Forum) October 14, 2012
 
The Forum have not commented publicly on the nature of the threats, but as vocal proponents of leaking against powerful organisations, nobody can really condemn them for acting to keep themselves and their families safe. They surely would not hand over the sites to the same people who had launched the attacks against their policy of free speech – better, we would think, to close it down completely.
Still, at least the latest attack account has a sense of irony, given its own attacks on the Forum, made only hours before:
We politely request control of the @wikileaks_forum twitter account.
— WL_Forum (@WL_Forum) October 14, 2012
We at Wikiwatch are saddened that the Forum has been driven offline. Their crime: encouraging free and open debate and distancing themselves from some of the views of Wikileaks (while offering wholehearted support in other areas).
As we said at the start: the attacks by Wikileaks supporters on their own forum may be a surprise to some people. But it is not a surprise to anyone who has followed the Wikileaks drama closely.  The Forum broke ranks and did not try to defend all the actions of Wikileaks; they were openly critical of some things.  That they would be disowned was inevitable.  That attacks would follow was sadly predictable.

Update: Following comments on this page by the Wikileaks Forum Admin, we have published a response via our criticism page.
Update 2: The @Wikileaks_forum is back online at the time of writing. And has answered one of the tweets which is displayed above:
@wl_forum The forum twitter account will be passed on to someone else, but not you.#endofstory
— wikileaks-forum.com (@wikileaks_forum) October 14, 2012
In the meantime, the owner of http://wikileaks.za.org/, a South African mirror of Wikileaks has taken the site offline, and linked to this page. He has also made a blog update giving his reasons in more detail.
ExiledSurfer tweeted that he could confirm this sort of behaviour, and invites people to look at his own tweet collection.
Update 3: On 16th October 2012, the wikileaks_forum twitter account announced that the forum was going to be reactivated.
The #WikiLeaks Forum will be relaunched on Wednesday 17 October. Moderators needed for language boards….stay tuned for new updates.
— wikileaks-forum.com (@wikileaks_forum) October 16, 2012
 
In response to a question over whether or not they would allow dissenting voices to be heard, the Forum responded:
@celaenohybrid the forum will continue to support the same policy.
— wikileaks-forum.com (@wikileaks_forum) October 16, 2012
The Forum has a new owner:
The #WikiLeaks Forum has a new owner. The admin team will remain in place. Stay tuned for more forum news + relaunch date
— wikileaks-forum.com (@wikileaks_forum) October 16, 2012
 
We at Wikiwatch wish them all the best for the future, and we sincerely hope that the Forum will continue to be a place for good debate where differing opinions can be aired. The moderator team they have in place is excellent – so we are very optimistic.
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