In August 2009, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV was preparing to report on Kaupthing Bank’s loan book after the document appeared on WikiLeaks. The bank obtained a prohibition order from the Reykjavík sheriff’s office barring RÚV from reporting on the material. The order was later withdrawn, but the episode demonstrated how legal restraints could temporarily suppress reporting about a major bank during Iceland’s financial crisis. Journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson was working on the story at RÚV after his earlier investigative program, Kompás, had been taken off air in February 2009 while examining Kaupthing’s connections to Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz.
In 2010, Hrafnsson became a WikiLeaks spokesperson after collaborating with the organization on its publication of the Collateral Murder video. Following the release, WikiLeaks faced what Hrafnsson described as a December 2010 “privatisation of censorship,” when MasterCard, Visa, and other companies stopped processing payments connected to the organization. The source identifies the commercial blockade and the Icelandic gag order, but does not establish that either action was unlawful or provide financial-loss figures. Julian Assange remained WikiLeaks’ publisher, while Hrafnsson became editor-in-chief in September 2018.
