Palantir plan to engage in disinformation and document fabrication [pdf]

That was the broad strokes sales pitch of an obvious strategy for a disinformation campaign coupled with a hope of cracking encryptions that they haven't yet found a way around. If they had, it would have been a part of the sales pitch.

That was a cheap pitch from a corporate contractor probing for a weakening in espionage spending by targeting embarrassing but low value public targets.

If that manages to take WikiLeaks down, then it needed to happen. Lessons will be learned and news organizations will have to adapt better safeguards for their sources.

Leaks will always happen when large scale covert operations attempt to cover up unethical behavior. It would only a matter of time before another "WikiLeaks" evolved after the first went down. The next variant will be stronger. And of course, if this sort of attack fails, WikiLeaks will be that much stronger for what it learns over the course of the fight.

These sorts of organizations would be better off working with news agencies like WikiLeaks to help clear out unethical personnel that the leakers highlight.

When catching wind of some fowl shit, shooting the people who point it out doesn't make the shit smell better. Getting rid of the people who produce the shit to begin with is the only effect means of preventing future stench.

Trump's campaign benefited from Wikileaks and now Peter Thiel is in the executive committee of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team. Wonder what's the market for venture capitalists to disrupt whistleblowing!

Wouldn't it be funny if the current conspiracy theory about Assange being missing was misinformation planted by Palantir or any number of other actors to discredit the organization?