Alternative to WikiLeaks about to be launched

My latest IPS article was published today. It’s about a site which is an alternative to WikiLeaks and is probably going to be launched sometime this week, in Iceland. The site is called Associated WhistleBlowing Press and will have journalists who will analyse and report on the leaked material. It is going to have platforms based in several countries and, unlike WikiLeaks, will not have a public face.

One of the reasons why the people behind the venture chose Iceland was the existence of IMMI (Independent Modern Media Initiative), which was the subject matter of a parliamentary resolution that was passed unanimously in 2010 by the Icelandic Althingi (parliament) with the aim of giving safe space to whistleblowers and investigative journalists and to allow Iceland to become an international transparency haven.

Foods containing GM products not always labelled

Monitoring of GM products in food products in Iceland is not good enough. A recent survey carried out by three organisations in Iceland on 10 products that were considered likely to contain GMOs yet were unlabelled revealed that 9 out of 12 did actually contain GMOs. Producers in the US (where most GM food originates) are not required to label products as containing GMOs, so it is up to the importer to do so. Which they clearly do not always do.
An older regulation calls for labelling the country of origin of fruit and vegetables, but this is also usually breached.