A new culture of resistance: from WikiLeaks to the squares from FuturePress

FuturePress consists of Pedro Noel and Santiago Carrion Arcos, who met in Spain after both studying philosophy. The two were a part of the Wikileaks phenomenon by writing cable analysis which they posted under the name Wikileaks Worlds. They eventually became regular contributors to the Wikileaks  Central project. They established a number of projects on their own, finally creating FuturePress.

[What] we describe as “collective of writers, artists and activists” fighting for the people’s right “to know what their leaders are doing, for their right to communicate freely on the Internet, and for their right to participate democratically in our global community”.

Noel and Arcos believe that the media should in fact be biased, but biased toward virtue, toward “equality, truth and justice”. FuturePress’s article “A new culture of resistance: from WikiLeaks to the squares” discusses how technology is a vital part of the revitalization of grassroots resistance. There are direct connections between Wikileaks and uprisings in Tunisia and other parts of the Middle East and in parts of Europe, like Spain. The city square has reactivated as a center for cultural revolution. In the square, direct democracy takes place.
Directly correlated to the square, claim the authors, is the socialization of the internet. Groups of hackers, like Anonymous, have become a vital aspect of the internet culture. In a way they are able to effect change, their own special kind of direct democracy. Anonymous was able to shut down websites that had boycotted Wikileaks, costing millions in damages. Also, websites like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized how revolutionaries communicate. Both social websites helped create the pathway for the Occupy movement.

Authors, Noel and Arcos have been the victims of cyber attacks and have even been threatened in person. I think that this is a sign that the work they are doing is necessary. Investigative journalism used to be a respected and honorable endeavor. Seeking out corruption and revealing it to the public was responded to with gratitude. It seems now that news corporations are less willing to directly reveal political corruption. The actions of FuturePress are simply a revival of a vital aspect of democracy.