The
PayPal-offshoot Becomes a Weapon in the War Against Whistleblowers
and WikiLeaks. The Palantir document notes that most well-known
journalistic professionals “with a liberal bent . . .if pushed will
choose professional preservation over cause, such is the mentality of
most business professionals.”
WikiLeaks,
the transparency organization known for publishing leaked documents
that threaten the powerful, finds itself under pressure like never
before, as does its editor-in-chief, Julian Assange. Now the fight to
silence WikiLeaks is not only being waged by powerful government
figures but also by the media, including outlets and organizations
that have styled themselves as working to protect whistleblowers.
Pierre
Omidyar – eBay billionaire and PayPal’s long-time owner – holds
considerable sway over several journalists and organizations that
once championed WikiLeaks but now work for the Omidyar-owned
publication, The Intercept. Thanks to his deep ties to the U.S.
government and his own long-standing efforts to undermine the
organization, Omidyar is using his influence to bring renewed
pressure to WikiLeaks as it continues to publish sensitive government
information. However, Pierre Omidyar is not the only PayPal-linked
billionaire with strong government connections and a dislike for
WikiLeaks.
Part
1
Peter
Thiel, who once compared writers at Gawker to Al Qaeda after they
wrote about his sexuality, is a close confidant of Donald Trump —
who, as president, continues to crack down on whistleblowers (even
denying them bail) and whose administration has named arresting
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange a top priority.
Thiel is
a perfect companion for the Trump administration in this regard —
having, through his management of a top government technology
contractor, overseen the creation of a “pre-crime” algorithm that
targets would-be whistleblowers. Not only that, but that very
contractor once created a plan challenging “the WikiLeaks threat,”
a plan that displays some frightening similarities to current efforts
to silence or discredit the organization and its famous editor.
Thiel,
after Trump’s inauguration, was nearly appointed chairman of the
President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, until Thiel withdrew his
name. Several of Thiel’s top aides and associates have been given
high-profile positions, including important positions on the National
Security Council.
However,
Thiel’s strongest relationship to the government comes not from his
Trump White House ties, but from his being chairman of the government
contractor Palantir Technologies, a company Fortune called “one
of Silicon Valley’s biggest, most secretive software startups.”
Palantir
began at PayPal as an antifraud algorithm that detected “unusual
account activity.” However, following September 11, PayPal
co-founder Thiel theorized it could be used to look for “terrorists.”
He, along with his long-time associate Alex Karp, decided to name
their offshoot company, which was based around the algorithm, after
the all-seeing crystal from The Lord of the Rings. It was launched in
2004, two years after PayPal was acquired by eBay’s Pierre Omidyar.
Upon
launching, Palantir was largely funded by Thiel himself as well as by
In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA – an agency also connected
to Pierre Omidyar. Since its founding, Thiel has long had a hand in
how Palantir is run and currently serves as its chairman. As of 2015,
PayPal employees still composed 80 percent of Palantir’s management
team.
Source,
links:
Comments
Post a Comment