Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today!
Truthout reporter Mike Ludwig talks to Ted Asregadoo about the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) – Financial Services Annex documents that were recently published by WikiLeaks, and the current status of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
Also see: WikiLeaks Reveals Global Trade Deal Kept More Secret Than the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The old adage about insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results – is an apt description of the Trade in Services Agreement – Financial Services Annex. TISA, like its predecessors the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Marrakech Agreement and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), all aim to liberalize trade and global markets by decreasing regulation and oversight by states bound by the agreement. TISA seeks to loosen financial sector rules put in place after the Great Recession that will allow insurance services similar to the credit default swaps (CDS) to become a dominant force in the investor class again. Insurance rules that created CDS schemes mean that investors can once again bet on investments that fail – and make money on the insurance claim. If the insurance company cannot pay (like in the case of AIG), taxpayers will bail out the company. If TISA were approved, personal data will be unprotected from state oversight. Like the TPP, TISA is being negotiated in secret, but some of what the TISA actors behind the scenes are negotiating isn’t a secret anymore.
Truthout reporter Mike Ludwig recently wrote on how WikiLeaks published part of the Trade in Services Agreement on their site, and highlights some of the analysis done on the documents in his Truthout piece. Moreover, in this “Truthout Interviews,” Mike provides an update about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – who’s been residing in an Ecuadorian embassy in London for the past two years. The United States wants to prosecute Assange for his role in publishing military documents and communications between diplomats in 2010, and Sweden wants him to answer assault charges.
Important Message: Please Read
For 25 years, Truthout has survived by publishing impactful investigative journalism and analysis; distributing full editions 365 days a year; and building a community of readers who support us with small, hard-earned donations.
Eighty percent of our $3 million yearly budget comes from small donors alone. Of those, 8,000 readers support us with monthly donations. Back in 2018, when Facebook decided to suppress the circulation of posts made by organizations, thereby cutting readers off from seeing many articles shared by the news organizations they had intentionally decided to follow, Truthout’s total traffic declined by 40 percent, as nearly all of our traffic from that platform disappeared.
Now, Google has recently rolled out its AI search bar, providing AI summaries instead of directing readers to our site. Google Search is our single largest source of traffic; it’s the route by which nearly one third of our readers find us. Much like in 2018, a shocking 40 percent of our Google traffic has disappeared overnight.
It will not be easy for Truthout to shoulder this blow. Nor will it be easy for our peers and collaborators — news sites that depend on traffic and aren’t bankrolled by large corporations.
If you can support Truthout with a donation today, you can help us resist the AI onslaught. Please give today.