WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was recently denied the dropping of charges against him yet again after his earlier request for the same failed in a similar manner. Assange reportedly jumped bail (payed bail but then just ran away and skipped his court date) after being charged with sexual assault by Swedish authorities, was charged by the British with skipping bail when he was found in the country, and has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy ever since, untouchable for almost 6 years. This recent attempt to go free came after Swedish authorities dropped the sexual assault charges, but a British judge ruled that the charge for skipping bail was independent of the charge for sexual assault and Assange was therefore still wanted by the British police should he step foot in any other part of London. The ruling largely coincided with the opinion of the public, which doesn't look to favorably upon the crass character that many see as taking exposés too far and putting the people and the government at risk in the process.
The relentless turning over of classified information associated with WikiLeaks could tie to the muckraking of the Progressive Era, although a perhaps better comparison to this would be the case of Edward Snowden. Formerly a government employee, he stole information concerning how the government monitors personal information/communication, releasing it (via WikiLeaks) to the public out of a sincere belief that the people ought to know; he was probably a more likable person than Julian Assange though. When his arrest was inevitably sought by the government, he sought and was awarded asylum in Russia, where he is still hoping that someday he may return to America without being arrested.
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