Feed: Wikileaks illegal say most Americans in new poll - AggScore: 12.7

Wikileaks illegal say most Americans in new poll

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caption id alignalignleft width210 captionWikileaks founder Julian Assange. Photo National Ledger Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Photo National Ledger img srchttpcdn2b.examiner.comsitesdefaultfilesstyleslargehash13a4JulianAssange6.jpg alt width210 height170 captionAsizable 69 to 18 of all adults agree that publishing these documents could pose a security threat to the United States and therefore should be illegal, according to a newly releasedBBC World News America Harris Poll of 2,019 U.S. adults surveyed online between December 17 and 21, 2010 by Harris Interactive.divThe July 2010, October 2010 and theNovember2010leaks of almost 500,000 classified documents postedon the Internet web site Wikileaksregarding the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq provides a cogent example of the inherent risks involved when granting an individual a security clearance. To ameliorate these risks, government agencies rely on a multiphasedpersonnel security clearance process, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.divblockquoteSome of the other main findings of this poll areul typediscliA 47 to 39 plurality of all adults disagree that WikiLeaks is helping to provide transparency in government which is important and goodliliA 48 to 39 plurality disagrees that publishing these documents could be embarrassing or hurtful to any given administration, but its not dangerousliliWhen it comes to the role of the media, the public is split between the 39 of all adults who agree and the 43 who disagree that all investigative journalism should be regulated by government and,liliOn one issue there is a very clear answer by more than 4to1, a 62 majority believes that the government should keep some secrets for national security, international diplomacy and other reasons as opposed to only 13 who believe that the government should keep no secrets at all....liulblockquotePerhaps the best indication of how the public is divided by some of the issues raised by the WikiLeaks debate is the three way split regarding who should decide what can and cannot be publicly released. Just over one third, 35, think the government should regulate what is released. One third, 32, thinks that each media outlet should decide what to publish and one third, 33, say they are not sure.The poll also finds that Democrats and Independents are somewhat more likely than Republicans to support the right to release and publish government documents, and that younger people are much more likely than older people to do so.Since the Wikileaks incidents,the Pentagon has put in place methods to minimize such thefts of classified materials. It is now much more difficult for a determined actor to get access to and move information outside of authorized channels, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a written statement.