WikiLeaks will temporarily suspend publishing operations in order to raise much-needed funds. The non-profit announced Monday in press conference that the financial blockade imposed by various financial institutions left it running on cash reserves and now the coffer is nearly dry.
“In order to ensure our future survival, we are forced to suspend all publishing operations to direct all our resources to fighting the blockage and raising funds,” WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange said.
Financial woes began for WikiLeaks last December when Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Bank of America all ceased processing donations to the whistle-blowing site, which is supported entirely by donations. WikiLeaks said this effectively cost it “tens of millions of dollars” in funding.
WikiLeaks said the “unlawful financial blockade” has “destroyed 95 percent of [WikiLeaks’] revenues, and has caused it to almost empty its bank account.
Now, to ensure its future, WikiLeaks will “aggressively fundraise in order to fight back against [the] blockage] and its proponents.”
The organization caused international controversy last November when it began the release of more than 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables. The site recently published the entire catalog of files, with the names of sources included. WikiLeaks claims the aforementioned financial firms yanked support last year at the urging of the U.S. government, which is actively pursuing an investigation against it.
“The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process,” WikiLeaks continued. “It is without democratic oversight or transparency. Our scarce resources now must focus on fighting the unlawful banking blockade.”
WikiLeaks said it has begun to pursue legal action against the blockade in the U.S., Iceland, Denmark, the U.K., Belgium, and Australia. It also on Monday launched its own site where people can make donations.
You can watch a stream of the press conference, held at London’s Frontline Club, here.