Anonymous: What Hacktivism Says About Social Disobedience Today

Learn why Anonymous’s recent video shocked social media worldwide

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May 31st, 2020. Amidst a global pandemic and a time of social unrest, the hacktivist group Anonymous has emerged back from the shadows. Early in the day, Anonymous released a video that has been taken on and off social media platforms. In it, they promised to expose the corruption inside police departments in the US. Specifically, they affirmed that officer Derek Chauvin should be convicted because he recently murdered George Floyd — an African-American citizen who was killed during a police confrontation on May 25th. As soon as twelve hours after the release of the video, Anonymous hacked the Minneapolis Police Department. Besides, Anonymous also revealed names that were connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s children trafficking network, such as Naomi Campbell, members of the British royal family, and the Trump family itself. Anonymous’s revelations have caused unrest on social media throughout the day. However, the question emerges: is the Anonymous group a legitimate activist organization that serves the common good and defends freedom of speech? Or is it just a sensationalist group that spreads fake news? Moreover, is hacktivism an effective way to dismantle unfair power and oppression? Or is the movement just a method for more conspiracy theories to emerge through social media?

Who is Anonymous?

4chan (.org: be careful with what you type) is a blog website that was founded in 2003. Registration is not allowed on the site and its purpose is to share comments and images anonymously. The hacktivist group Anonymous first emerged through this site, blogging about topics such as anarchy and oppression. Since its origins, Anonymous has identified itself as a legion that will be expected and will not forgive. In 2006, Anonymous hacked the social network service Habbo, and, since then, the group has risen to prominence through bigger interventions online.

In 2008, Anonymous hacked the Church of Scientology’s websites. The Church of Scientology is a religious and spiritual movement that was accused of mistreating and exploiting its members constantly. Anonymous protested the Church’s malpractices, both through online hacks and presential manifestations, and considerably damaged the reputation of the spiritual movement. Onward, Anonymous gained more attention throughout the 2010s as it continued to challenge different organizations and online groups. For example, in 2010, Anonymous hacked multiple financial services companies that tried to restrict funding from Wikileaks — a non-profit that spreads public information of “political, ethical, diplomatic or historical significance”[1], without censorship or rumors. Because of Anonymous’s fight, the US government allowed Wikileaks to keep functioning, despite initial intentions to shut the site down.

Also, in 2011, hacked many dictator governments’ websites during the Arab Spring, helping rebels to fight totalitarianism in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt. Anonymous carried on to be considered one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012, according to Time Magazine. Though the group had remained inactive throughout recent years, Anonymous came back on May 31st with the promise to reveal information against corrupt entities in a time of global economic, social, and political unrest. Anonymous has returned, and its effects over the world remain to be seen.

What does hacktivism do?

Anonymous has probably grown to be one of the most prominent hacktivist groups. However, what makes hacktivism stand out from other activist movements is the use of a computer. Stanford University defined hacktivism as “the use of computer technology to achieve a political agenda through legally ambiguous means”. [2] Hacktivism is still considered activism because the pursuit of that political agenda backs up the purpose to bring certain issues to light and to make a social change about them for the better. Stanford University also specifies four limits that the hacktivist movement does not cross.

1. It does not take place in a physical space — it is always online.
2. Its hacking motives always relate to some form of activism.
3. Its activities always involve some hacking, beyond merely being online activism.
4. It does not jeopardize the lives of others (like cyberterrorism).

Therefore, hacktivism always justifies its violations of privacy and data hijacking with a social purpose. Does that defend the universal rights of freedom of speech and access to information resources? Or is it a criminal act? Due to its attack nature and polarized ideology, hacktivism has also encountered its criticisms.

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Controversies

As the Anonymous movement has directly attacked certain organizations and entities throughout its history, the hacktivist group (as well as hacktivism itself) has encountered controversy. Some argue that the fight for transparency and social justice does not justify the violation of the right for privacy, no matter how public the hacked personality is. Some others regard hacking as a way of stealing private information. For instance, the Anonymous attack over Wikileaks led to 14 arrests and 13 convictions in 2010. The Anonymous group has even been considered a criminal group. Some also believe that hacktivists can base their fights on fake claims to defend unknown, shady interests. In other words, the hacktivist fight has polarized the perception into whether hacktivist groups are allowed to steal information to fight social injustice and lack of transparency around the world or not. Moreover, the hacktivist fight has revealed an important aspect of how activism will develop in the future.

The recent assassination of George Floyd has provoked social unrest that will demand further transparency and justice protocols to be followed by police departments and armed forces in the US. Racism and intolerance across the US and around the world have increasingly been reported on social media throughout recent years. Therefore, as social media platforms grow to become a major means for people to hear about injustices worldwide, it will become easier for the public to demand instant action over certain topics that regard social issues. Contextually, is hacktivism a legitimate way to expose means of injustice to the public knowledge? Is Anonymous doing good for modern society or is it not? That is up for debate. Yet, despite its controversies, hacktivist movements like Anonymous will emerge more often as public figures will be monitored more easily due to technological development. So, debates concerning hacktivism will no longer argue whether it is a crime or a social service — they will try to figure out how to react to social surveillance and a tendency to be subject to both true and false accusations.

There is some value to the hacktivist fight. It has created movements that intend to democratize valuable information about what makes some social issues worse than how they could be. Besides, they show the future of how fights will continue to face issues such as gender inequality, racism, marginalization, xenophobia, oppression, violence, and discrimination. In other words, the hacktivist movement shows a part of how social disobedience will evolve in the decades to come, as well as how modern oppression will be tackled throughout the 21st century. However, the public must be cautious of these kinds of movements. Following May 31st, Anonymous has continued to unveil different theories about high-profile cases that cannot be proved in an objective investigation. Besides, the justification to violate a person’s right to privacy may sometimes be entirely up to the hacktivist organization’s interests and not up to the benefit of the common good. Hacktivism may help to democratize the knowledge of injustices around the world; however, the movement must be cautious to stay firm towards its main objective — the legitimate pursuit of truth and justice.

Bibliography and other references

Brad. “A brief history on Anonymous”. In ExpressVPN, December 11th, 2019. https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/brief-history-of-anonymous/.

Campiña, Judith. “Hacktivismo: ¿revolución o crimen?”. In ForoTV, June 14th, 2016. https://medium.com/opini%C3%B3n-con-foro/hacktivismo-revoluci%C3%B3n-o-crimen-fc5a025f3138.

Davidbix. “Donald Trump & Jeffrey Epstein Rape Lawsuit and Affidavits”. In Scribd, June 20th, 2016. PDF document. https://es.scribd.com/doc/316341058/Donald-Trump-Jeffrey-Epstein-Rape-Lawsuit-and-Affidavits.

Diario El Mundo. “Anonymous le declara la Guerra a policía de Minneapolis”. On Facebook, May 31st, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/Tumundoadiario/videos/255756928860950/?v=255756928860950&external_log_id=e98bd9037dbe1d1be46649b28f013f2f&q=Anonymous.

OpDeathEaters. “Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book”. In Scribd, February 27th, 2015. PDF document. https://es.scribd.com/doc/257106594/JEs-LBB.

Redacción BBC News Mundo. “George Floyd: qué pasó antes de su arresto y cómo fueron sus últimos 30 minutos de vida”. In BBC News Mundo, May 31st, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-52869476.

Redacción Marca Claro. “Anonymous amenaza a la Policía de Mineápolis e involucra a Los Trump en el caso Epstein”. In https://us.marca.com/claro/mas-trending/2020/05/31/5ed3e45146163f144c8b45da.html

Stanek, Becca. “How Did Anonymous Start? The History Of The Mysterious “Hacktivist” Group Began Quite Some Time Ago”. In Bustle, February 20th, 2015. https://www.bustle.com/articles/65444-how-did-anonymous-start-the-history-of-the-mysterious-hacktivist-group-began-quite-some-time-ago

[2] Stanford University. “What is hacktivism?”. Stanford Computer Science. Accessed on June 1st, 2020. https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/Hacktivism/what.html.

[1] Zittrain, Jonathan, and Molly Sauter. “Everything You Need to Know About Wikileaks”. In MIT Technology Review, December 9th, 2010. https://www.technologyreview.com/2010/12/09/120156/everything-you-need-to-know-about-wikileaks/.

4chan. “What is 4chan?” In 4chan, 2003–2020. https://www.4chan.org/.