The Fifth Estate is a film that tells about the founding of Wikileaks by Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Daniel Berg (Daniel Bruhl). Wikileaks is an international mass media website that contains confidential information and should not be published to the public. In this film, Julian Assange and his friends want to uncover and spread classified information and documents from the United States. Confidential information published by Wikileaks has become the center of attention for many people. Even well-known media like the Times and The Guardian are interested in this Wikileaks. After Wikileaks became famous because the news released, Julian became a celebrity and was known by many people. But not for Daniel, his co-worker. Daniel did not receive any impact from the popularity of this Wikileaks. Until Daniel began to realize Julian's desire for this website.
The secrets that have been leaked by Wikileaks continue to cause casualties. The victim is a source of information or a whistleblower who has provided sensitive documents to Wikileaks. This incident did not stop Wikileaks from leaking the confidential information it had obtained. Until one day an American soldier sent 91,000 documents and 250,000 secret diplomatic cables to Wikileaks. This makes Julian happy to want to publish it without editing at all, in accordance with the purpose of making Wikileaks.
But Daniel refused to let Julian want to edit the document before it was published to protect whistleblowers. Instead of protecting whistleblowers, Julian insists on keeping the information published. This is very inversely proportional to Wikileaks' original goal of protecting the identity of whistleblowers behind the freedom of information for the general public. Julian's selfish nature made Daniel resentful and he did what he thought was right.
What we can learn from this film is how technology and media can have a big impact on a country and can even trigger wars, not only between regions but between countries. We can also learn that not all news on social media is not completely true. Sometimes there are some lies behind the news being spread. The more sophisticated the technology should be able to make us aware to be more able to sort out which one is right for us. We also have to be careful in making or conveying information in public, especially social media. Sometimes for us, the information we convey is true but not for others. From small things like this can trigger divisions between countries. But it is not always negative, technology also helps us to be aware and aware of our current situation.
