WikiLeaks vs. „The Fifth Estate“

For some time now I follow the discussion about “The Fifth Estate” a movie about – if you have not heard it yet – Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. The controversial approach focuses on the first files WikiLeaks published and the friendship between Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg.

Based on the books “My Time with Julian Assange and the World’s Most Dangerous Website” by  Daniel Domscheit-Berg and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” written by the British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding, Julian Assange made quite clear from the beginning that he did not approve of either – the books and the movie – and declared he feared the movie might damage his reputation. In January 2013 he spoke about a “mass propaganda attack against WikiLeaks” and read scenes from the movie script in a talk for Oxford Union.

The movie makers later declared Assange did…