Is WikiLeaks evil or good?

My first reaction is that it feels very wrong to publicly disclose private communication. Morally speaking, stealing information and then disseminating it is sneaky and underhanded. Not to mention the potential danger to persons, regions and even countries. In some cases such leaks might actually jeopardize the work people are doing. And by saying we are entitled to know we second guess our leaders, arrogantly presuming that "we know better".

But then, the leaked communiques, while private, are not entirely personal correspondances; they pertain to the nations their authors represent. In a sense, the people writing these things were doing so on our behalf--or at least on behalf of the Americans (it was, after all, an American leak). We have the right to know how and why decisions are being made on our behalf, don't we? And if we don't like the way we're being represented we can then exert influence for change. Viewed this way, this becomes another way to keep elected leadership in check. The case can be made that this is consistent with democratic ideology.

Perhaps the question being asked is too black and white; everything doesn't just fall under two categories, good or evil. While information itself is neutral, individuals are seldom so. How we act upon what we know is the issue. And people do act on information...

Some say that the WikiLeaks sparked the Tunisian uprising, which has now rolled into an Egyptian uprising. Information is power. Given that humanity's track record for wisely using information isn't great, the role of Christians today to pray for divine influence on our decision-making cannot be underestimated.

WikiLeaks may result in good consequences, which wouldn't necessarily justify the release. Or it may result in awful consequences, which wouldn't necessarily condemn the release. In either case, we should see the need for God's help to steward the massive amount of information we face today.