London: WikiLeaks has claimed that late Internet activist and hacker Aaron Swartz — who committed suicide last week — was an ally and possible source for the organization.
It also disclosed that Swartz was “in communication” with founder Julian Assange during 2010 and 2011, WikiLeaks said in a series of tweets.
WikiLeaks, which exposes classified information provided by anonymous sources, said it decided to reveal these details in light of the US Secret Service’s involvement in Swartz’s case. At the time of his death, Swartz was awaiting trial for allegedly harvesting millions of scholarly articles over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s network. He was charged with computer fraud and other crimes in July 2011, and faced up to 35 years in prison.
The Secret Service took over Swartz’s case two days prior to his arrest, Mashable reports.
Although WikiLeaks doesn’t elaborate on its decision, the organization has a policy of maintaining anonymity for its sources.
“As far as we can ascertain, WikiLeaks has never revealed any of its sources,” according to its website. “We cannot provide details about the security of our media organization or its anonymous drop box for sources because to do so would help those who would like to compromise the security of our organization and its sources.”
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