For almost two centuries, Italy has fought a war against the Mafia, a broad term defining various highly organized and violent crime rings. The Mafia's strongest weapon is not its knack for secrecy or corruption of local governments, but rather the omertà, an unwritten code of silence rooted in fear — a cultural attitude that makes people turn a blind eye to Mafia operations and refuse to report what they've seen to the authorities.
Now, a group of anonymous Italian citizens wants to defeat the omertà and the Mafia with a WikiLeaks mentality: A website for mob whistleblowers and victims called MafiaLeaks.
See also: Is Strongbox the New Wikileaks?
The site is also inspired by the ancient Boche de Leon, 16th century mouth-shaped mailboxes in which the citizens of the Venetian Republic could drop documents or notes to magistrates containing anonymous complaints, according to one of its founders (see image below).
"With this website we don't do anything more than transform a server into a stupid hole in the wall," one of founders of the site, who used the pseudonym Bobby for fear of reprisals, told Mashable.
The site, which launched on Tuesday, positions itself as a mediator between potential suppliers of information about Mafia activity and those who can act on that information, such as journalists, anti-Mafia organizations and law enforcement agencies. For now, only journalists are listed as receivers of the material, but anyone can send information.
"The goal is to experiment with an innovative technology to tear down the wall of omertà and silence that protects Mafia organizations," reads the manifest on MafiaLeaks' site. "We call on all citizens: If you know something, say something."
A submission system using the same technology as WikiLeaks ensures that whistleblower and Mafia victims remain anonymous, not even the site's administrators know who they are.
"We're not asking you to trust MafiaLeaks, in fact, we're asking you not to trust us," reads the FAQ on the site. That's exactly the point: A source is safe because not even the site, let alone the receivers, know his identity.
A screenshot of the MafiaLeaks submission platform, listing the outlets able to receive information. Image: MafiaLeaks.org
Other recent efforts to encourage people to come forward with valuable information, such as The New Yorker's Strongbox submission system and SecureDrop, have the same approach.
MafiaLeaks is based on the open source whistleblowing platform GlobaLeaks and uses the encrypted anonymizing software Tor to protect the identity of would-be whistleblowers. The actual MafiaLeaks submission site can't be accessed without Tor.
MafiaLeaks targets current or former Mafia members who may want to denounce their group's activities but fear approaching the police. The site's founders hope these people will log onto MafiaLeaks' hidden website (the URL is http://pliqhphjyny4yglg.onion/) and spill their secrets anonymously.
Critics say the site could provide a platform for false or misleading tips from gangs. Blog del Narco, a Mexican blog that documents the cartel wars, has received similar criticisms.

MafiaLeaks' potential sources aren't the only ones who are wary of revealing their true names. Its founders are relatively unknown, too.
Bobby, the pseudonym for a MafiaLeaks founder, told Mashable in an interview over encrypted chat that five to 10 people are working on the site and that anonymity protects them, too.
MafiaLeaks.org is registered via the French hosting company Gandi to Fabio Bruno, according to Internet registrars information, but Bobby told Mashable that Fabio Bruno is a fake name.
The founders' anonymity has created some controversy. Bobby and the other founders reached out to the Italian police's Anti-Mafia Investigative Department (DIA) to collaborate, but the division has not yet accepted the group's invitation.
"The DIA doesn't believe in us because we're anonymous, and so do all the other law enforcement agencies," Bobby said. "But, you know what? They're right, and it's fair. Nobody should trust us. [...] We're not asking to take submissions at face value."
After all, the premise of MafiaLeaks is to provide a platform for whistleblowers to release audio, video or documents proving Mafia criminal activity, and then let the "trusted people" — the receivers of the material — evaluate the submissions.
It's up to the recipient of the submission to vet and evaluate the information, much like how WikiLeaks operates. The MafiaLeaks administrators simply pass along the information sent through the platform. If a user sends a tip to a certain journalist listed on MafiaLeaks as a "trusted source," only that journalist can view the information through her MafiaLeaks inbox.
Bobby refused to provide further details about the inception of the site, explaining that the idea was born when one of its founders — who goes by the pseudonym Andrea — returned to his hometown in northern Italy after living abroad.
Upon his return, he found that the Mafia had infiltrated his small town. When Andrea asked his neighbors why a small business had shut down, they said the Mafia had forced it out of business by requesting the "pizzo," a form of extorting money in exchange of protection. They knew about it, but nobody was taking action.
"This is something Italians are used to, but our friend, who came back from abroad, was shocked," Bobby said.
The Mafia originated in the Southern regions of Italy, but now does its business across the world. The FBI estimates that the Mafia's worldwide activity is worth $100 billion.
Initially, the would-be founders of MafiaLeaks considered creating a blog, but then realized that would turn themselves into targets. When they found out about GlobaLeaks, they realized they could be the middlemen.
Lirio Abbate, an Italian journalist who has reported on Mafia for years, warns that it will be hard to obtain documents since Mafia organizations don't issue meeting minutes or receipts for murder hits. But the site could find success if it can gather video or audio evidence.
"That would be devastating, that would create an enormous anti-Mafia revolution," Abbate told Mashable.
For now, the site allows people to send documents to the MafiaLeaks administrators, independent Italian journalist Antonella Beccaria, the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano and Telejato, a small Sicilian local TV station that has reported on Mafia for years. These are MafiaLeaks' "trusted people."
But the site would like to include many more outlets capable of receiving information moving forward, according to Bobby, much like the Dutch site Publeaks, which currently lists more than 30 newspapers and online media organizations as receivers.
Regardless of how many outlests it can get on board, MafiaLeaks' success will ultimately depend entirely on trust from would-be whistleblowers, patience and willingness to speak up against the Mafia.
There has only been one true WikiLeaks — other copycats have withered. But MafiaLeaks has a narrower goal that most of the other imitators, so perhaps a more apt comparison is to BalkanLeaks, a small site run by investigative journalists. These journalists behind BalkanLeaks have successfully fought and exposed high-level corruption in Bulgaria.
"Just like wit the 'Boche de Leon', you only have to wait and listen, wait for the right small piece of paper with proof," Booby said. "That will come, and once we have overwhelming evidence, we can't turn away from that."
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Image: Mashable composite. iStockphoto, Nataniil; Wikimedia Commons