An overview of the WikiLeaks library, launched by Julian Assange in 2006.
A central actor in the fight for transparency, WikiLeaks has been both a platform for whistle-blowers desiring to anonymously expose wrongdoing and a publisher of original source material, ranging from leaked emails and documents from intelligence agencies and governments, to military reports and diplomatic cables.
With over 250,000 US diplomatic cables and over 5 million emails from intelligence company Stratfor (among others), the WikiLeaks releases include extensive and diverse databases.
The diversity of the material makes WikiLeaks one of the essential tools for activists and journalists, whatever the topic of investigation. Use the WikiLeaks homepage to choose which database you wish to browse; or for the US diplomatic cable releases go to the Public Library of US Diplomacy to browse through the cables.
WikiLeaks material has also been used by scholars, to tackle issues such as the GM food lobby and the pattern of violence in wars.
The material has also been used to support the cause of exiled residents of the Chagos Islands in their high profile trial against the UK.
First published on May 1, 2015
Last updated on July 1, 2020