Several commentators have observed we have to overcome any petty dislike of Assange the man, and focus on how truly awful this outcome will be for a free press and political journalism.
I'm going to find that hard, but I think it's true: this is a very bad decision, it has consequences. It is extra territorial Legalistic silencing. Nobody should be subject to US law at a distance, in a world where the US refuses to accept any external legal legitimacy to constrain it's own actions. No US state operative will be held to account by any other court, worldwide for any offence, no matter what, if the US government can avoid it. But commit any act to expose US secrets, anywhere any time, you are subject to US reach.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 15.0 ms ] threadI'm going to find that hard, but I think it's true: this is a very bad decision, it has consequences. It is extra territorial Legalistic silencing. Nobody should be subject to US law at a distance, in a world where the US refuses to accept any external legal legitimacy to constrain it's own actions. No US state operative will be held to account by any other court, worldwide for any offence, no matter what, if the US government can avoid it. But commit any act to expose US secrets, anywhere any time, you are subject to US reach.