If they hadn't disabled Wikileaks accounts there would have just been another topic just as controversial that would have gotten a bug up hacker's asses. This isn't a story about Wikileaks. Wikileaks is just the handy example. This is a story about how small numbers of people can have a temper tantrum and produce a global impact.
You can't reason backwards and say "well if they just hadn't done X everything would be fine" The parent's point is if they start reasoning like that, they'll just toss out anybody vaguely smelling suspicious (which I also think is the logical result, along with increased black lists of IP addresses)
That's just not true. There has neither been a reaction of this kind for other "bugs up hacker's asses" nor has there been an issue this controversial for a very long time. I can't think of any... perhaps the Morris' worm or Kevin Mitnick.
No there hasn't been a story like this -- ever. That's what makes it an interesting story.
Expect more like this. Eventually we'll get around to some issue that you can't feel so self-righteous about pursuing. Then the shoe will be on the other foot.
There are millions of jobs and people who depend on these companies everyday. It's not just about money and shareholder interests.