DeKALB | Wikileaks has been in the news at various times the past few years, most recently for leaking sensitive documents from the Pentagon about the Iraq War.

Even with this most recent news, many students still do not know what Wikileaks is and why it might be important to politics.

Aaron Hoffman, associate professor of political science, said Wikileaks is doing good things for the citizens who want to keep a close eye on their government.

“I expect organizations like Wikileaks to make it more difficult for governments and private actors to hide inconvenient information from the public,” Hoffman said. “This transparency should make the operation of government and private enterprise less open to corruption.”

Wikileaks is a non-profit organization run by Julian Assange that is dedicated to the release of important information to the public. Started in 2007, it is known as a “whistle blowing” website that specializes in taking leaked documents, pictures, or other files and distributing them so anyone can see them.

The site is funded by donations, it also has legal support from various newspapers and news agencies.

Kevin Hamilton, junior computer science major said he thinks most students on campus have heard of Wikileaks.

“I feel a majority of the students on campus will have heard of the site,” Hamilton said. “But fewer will know what the site is really about.”

Hamilton said Wikileaks is not important to the political system, but instead it is important to the people as they will have more control over the government by spreading the leaked information.

The site is open for anyone to contribute information, though Wikileaks’ pages are checked by a staff of professional journalists and anti-corruption analysts before anything appears online.

Tim Ceglarek, senior business major, said people should pay attention to the website.

“I never heard of Wikileaks before the news stories came out about it a couple of weeks ago,” Ceglarek said. “But now that I know what it is and what it does, it might be important for citizens and politicians to check it every once and while.”