"Development of donations over the past two years has declined substantially and is no longer able to provide the earlier levels of support for the project," according to Wau Holland Foundation's annual report. The decline was caused primarily by two factors as follows.
First, contributions have slid since the appearance of Edward Snowden, according to Wau Holland Foundation, who collects funds for the antisecrecy website. Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor, revealed secrets of surveillance practices of the US.
Upon Snowden's appearance, contributions increased to Eur1,000 (US$1,285) per day. Afterwards, daily contributions dropped to around Eur100. The amount is around three times the rate before Snowden's appearance. Bernd Fix also said in an email that the rate was "unlikely to put WikiLeaks in the black after two years of deficits."
Second, major credit card companies also stopped payments for the site in 2010. According to Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' founder, more than SU$50 million was lost due to donations being held up by Visa Europe, MasterCard, and American Express.
These credit card companies, together with Paypal, Bank of America, and Western Union, suspended payment processing due to the publication of classified documents from Army Private Bradley Manning. The suspension was done during the time when Manning was still on trial.
However, this year, the blockade has been lifted. This was after DataCell, another processor of the site's donations, filed a case in court.
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