I believe if you willfully lie or suppress opposing or conflicting information that is credible then you're likely to misrepresent situations and cause a reaction or feedback to them.

We see this on Fox news all the time. An informed public is vital. But a willfully lied to public is not. There are still echo chambered people who do not know the Jan 6th Capitol Attack wasn't antifa, wasn't Democrats, wasn't more than a tour, and so many more things. This influences them.

Assange influenced what others thought while preventing information that might conflict or balance.

In reality he should be seen as an unregistered political actor or saboteur in context. But how to properly classify and punish is a complicated task.