WikiLeaks takes on Union

Julian Assange is back in the headlines after WikiLeaks accuses the Oxford Union of censorship.

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WikiLeaks has accused the Union of censoring Julian Assange’s videolink speech on 23rd January.

They claim that the Oxford Union pulled the live stream and edited the speech over issues with the background image chosen by Assange.

During his speech, Assange featured a video released by WikiLeaks in 2010 titled ‘Collateral Muder’ that shows, from the gunner’s perspective, an Apache helicopter attack on Reuters journalists and civilians.

In the video released by the Union the original background can no longer be seen; instead, it is replaced by an official Union background. The Union maintain this is because of fears of a copyright claim from the US government. WikiLeaks, however, says it advised the Union that “by law and practice the US government does not claim copyrights on footage or documents that it produces.”

Assange made his speech as part of the Sam Adams Awards, an event dedicated to whistleblowers, organised by the Oxford Union.

Here are the two videos in question: