“I would not want to live in a world without whistle blowers,” Friedman said. “But I would not want to live in a world where any individual can expose all the internal emails [of an organization].” Yet Friedman also explained that while America “on balance [is] a real force for good in the world,” Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, does not believe in or support American values.
Commenting on the role of technology, Friedman said that the benefits include the rise in globalization, but WikiLeaks demonstrates some of the potential issues with rapidly growing technology. “It’s incredibly empowering and it’s incredibly disempowering,” Friedman said.
When discussing technology, Friedman insisted that despite new inventions with Facebook and online media, personal interviews and conversations are irreplaceable. “If you want to have an impact on your world, get off Facebook and into somebody’s face,” Friedman said. “I still get enormous satisfaction from interviewing people wherever I go.”
