Facing Lieberman Boycott, Amazon Ousts WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks Site Back Up, In Sweden

Faced with growing outrage from top officials and threats from Sen. Joe Lieberman (I – CT) to launch a full boycott of the company for daring to host content so embarrassing to the US government, Amazon.com has decided to oust WikiLeaks content from their hosting service.

The move appears to have come without any consultation with WikiLeaks, and left their site down for much of the morning. The site is now back up and is based in Uppsala, Sweden. The new host is Bahnhof Internet AB.

Amazon has thus far declined to comment on its decision to oust WIkiLeaks from its Web Services, but WikiLeaks responded by saying “if Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books.”

Sen. Lieberman praised the shutdown, saying Amazon “set the standard for other companies” on the issue. Lieberman has been an outspoken proponent of efforts to empower President Obama to shut down any websites he sees fit and indeed the entire Internet in the name of national security.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.