Most People Think Releases by WikiLeaks Should be Illegal

No consensus on the roles of government and media in deciding what should be published

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Jan 04, 2011, 06:04 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new BBC World News America/Harris Poll finds that Americans are divided, with no consensus, as to how much freedom the media should have to publish confidential government documents. However, a sizable 69% to 18% of all adults agree that "publishing these documents could pose a security threat to the United States and therefore should be illegal." At the same time a 48% to 40% plurality believes that "the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment...gives organizations and individuals the right to post any information given to them." The public is clearly split on some of the key issues raised by the publication of government cables by WikiLeaks, and some people give somewhat contradictory responses depending on how the issue is presented.

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These are some of the findings of a new BBC World News America/Harris Poll of 2,019 U.S. adults surveyed online between December 17 and 21, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Some of the other main findings of this poll are:

A 47% to 39% plurality of all adults disagree that "WikiLeaks is helping to provide transparency in government which is important and good;"
A 48% to 39% plurality disagrees that "publishing these documents could be embarrassing or hurtful to any given administration, but it's not dangerous;"
When it comes to the role of the media, the public is split between the 39% of all adults who agree and the 43% who disagree that all investigative journalism should be regulated by government; and,
On one issue there is a very clear answer: by more than 4-to-1, a 62% majority believes that "the government should keep some secrets for national security, international diplomacy and other reasons" as opposed to only 13% who believe that "the government should keep no secrets at all...."

Perhaps the best indication of how the public is divided by some of the issues raised by the WikiLeaks debate is the three way split regarding who should decide what can and cannot be publicly released. Just over one third, 35%, think the government should regulate what is released. One third, 32%, thinks that each media outlet should decide what to publish and one third, 33%, say they are not sure.

The poll also finds that Democrats and Independents are somewhat more likely than Republicans to support the right to release and publish government documents, and that younger people are much more likely than older people to do so.

So What?

There is no consensus as to what should be done in response to the WikiLeaks releases and their publication in the media or to regulate future leaks of confidential government documents. It is probable that the public's reaction to these and future leaks, and to the preferred roles of the government and media will depend on the context and the perceived consequences of the published documents. If, for example, people believe that the leaks seriously endanger national security, they are likely to oppose the leaking. If, on the other hand, the leaks merely embarrass the government or other countries, the public will be much more likely to approve of the leaks.

TABLE 1A OPINIONS ABOUT WIKILEAKS "Recently the website known as WikiLeaks posted thousands of confidential and classified U.S. government documents on the Internet, provided to them by anonymous sources. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below? Base: All U.S. adults
	Agree (NET)	Agree strongly	Agree somewhat	Disagree (NET)	Disagree somewhat	Disagree strongly	Not at all sure
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Publishing these documents could pose a security threat to the United States and therefore should be illegal.	69	47	21	18	10	8	13
The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, which provides freedoms of press and free speech, gives organizations and individuals the right to post any information given to them.	48	19	28	40	18	22	13
WikiLeaks is helping to provide transparency in government, which is important and good.	39	16	23	47	18	29	14
Publishing these documents could be embarrassing or hurtful to any given administration, but it's not dangerous.	39	15	24	48	22	26	13
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 1B OPINIONS ABOUT WIKILEAKS "Recently the website known as WikiLeaks posted thousands of confidential and classified U.S. government documents on the Internet, provided to them by anonymous sources. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below? Summary of those saying "agree strongly" or "agree somewhat" Base: All U.S. adults
	Total	Age				Gender		Political Party
	Total	18-34	35-44	45-54	55+	Male	Female	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Publishing these documents could pose a security threat to the United States and therefore should be illegal.	69	56	74	69	76	70	67	78	69	66
The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, which provides freedoms of press and free speech, gives organizations and individuals the right to post any information given to them.	48	57	51	48	37	53	43	39	55	46
WikiLeaks is helping to provide transparency in government, which is important and good.	39	51	43	35	28	43	35	31	42	39
Publishing these documents could be embarrassing or hurtful to any given administration, but it's not dangerous.	39	45	41	35	33	42	36	32	44	34
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 2 WIKILEAKS AND INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM "Some argue that WikiLeak's actions are equivalent to espionage, and should be investigated and prosecuted by law. If this is the case, to what extent do you agree or disagree that all investigative journalism would have to be regulated by the government? Base: All U.S. adults
	Total	Education			Political Party
	Total	HS or less	Some College	College Grad.	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Agree (NET)	39	42	37	36	42	46	28
Agree strongly	16	16	16	15	17	17	15
Agree somewhat	23	26	22	20	25	30	12
Disagree (NET)	43	32	45	57	45	33	57
Disagree somewhat	17	12	18	24	20	13	23
Disagree strongly	26	20	27	33	25	20	34
Not at all sure	18	26	17	7	13	21	15
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 3 SECRETS IN GOVERNMENT "Which of the following scenarios comes closest to your own opinion? I believe..." Base: All U.S. adults
	Total	Age				Education			Political Party
	Total	18-34	35-44	45-54	55+	HS or less	Some College	College Grad.	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The government should keep some secrets for national security, international diplomacy and other reasons, but I trust elected and appointed officials will do so appropriately.	62	47	68	60	73	53	64	74	71	61	65
The government should keep no secrets at all, including those for national security, international diplomacy and other reasons.	13	23	14	9	5	14	13	11	9	12	14
Not at all sure	26	30	18	31	22	34	23	15	20	27	22
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4 REGULATING INFORMATION "If you make the assumption that some information is dangerous to have publicly available, as some people believe, who do you think should regulate what is okay for public release and what is not?" Base: All U.S. adults
	Total	Age				Gender		Political Party
	Total	18-34	35-44	45-54	55+	Male	Female	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The government is best suited to regulate this.	35	30	37	38	37	37	34	40	38	32
Each media outlet and individual should be responsible to self-regulate.	32	34	35	29	30	39	25	32	28	36
Not at all sure	33	36	28	33	33	24	41	28	34	32
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Methodology

This BBC World News America/Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between December 17 and 21, 2010 among 2,019 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Where appropriate, this data were also weighted to reflect the composition of the adult online population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

The Harris Poll® #1, January 4, 2011

By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman, The Harris Poll

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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