US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says US did not pressure private companies to deny service to WikiLeaks

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the United States did not pressure private companies to deny service to WikiLeaks following its release of secret US diplomatic cables.
  
Clinton, in a speech on Internet freedom at George Washington University here, repeated US condemnation of the release of the cables by WikiLeaks, saying it had begun with an "act of theft" and had put people at risk. She also said the WikiLeaks case does not challenge the US commitment to Internet freedom.
  
Clinton said the US government had no role in the decision by a number of US companies, including Amazon, MasterCard, PayPal and Visa and Mastercard, to cut off services to WikiLeaks. "There were reports in the days following the leak that the US government intervened to coerce private companies to deny service to Wikileaks," she said. "This is not the case."

The US secretary of state also said the Internet was not at the heart of the WikiLeaks case. "Fundamentally, the Wikileaks incident began with an act of theft," she said. "Government documents were stolen, just the same as if they had been smuggled out in a briefcase."
  
She said a government needed confidentiality to deal with sensitive issues. "Our diplomats closely collaborate with activists, journalists, and citizens to challenge the misdeeds of oppressive governments," she said. "It's dangerous work. By publishing the diplomatic cables, Wikileaks exposed people to even greater risk."