While their techniques may be illegal, hacktivist collective is force for good
Anonymous, a global network of hacktivists, is gaining international attention and praise for their recent high profile operations. As their name entails, Anonymous is a group of unknown individuals which uses cyber-technologies to advocate and advance their agenda—they’re also a necessary force of civil disobedience in our society.
Looking at previous Anonymous operations, the assistance they provided for many pro-democracy movements such as the Tunisian revolution in 2010 showed how effective they can be in assisting with real-world good.
Anonymous is in many ways the prime example of how a connected world can allow people on all sides to assist each other and improve their lives through technology. While the legality of many of their actions is questionable, the real question is whether or not Anonymous is a necessary evil in our world.
Corporations, governments, and international organizations have all fallen victim to Anonymous’ campaigns. Some of the most recent hacktivists operations that raised massive media reaction were OpKKK, which involved Anonymous releasing a list of KKK members and OpParis which was an online assault against Twitter accounts connected to ISIS.
Anonymous is controversial because their operational methods are illegal and frowned upon by governments and law enforcement. Anonymous associates have been arrested worldwide under charges of accessing without authorization, hacking and other computer charges.
While Anonymous acts in illegal and extreme manners, in many cases when legal and normative methods are applied to the same issues they don’t have much impact—so maybe it’s time to support Anonymous more. Conventional law enforcement either won’t act on the information Anonymous has or doesn’t have access to that information.
Anonymous began simply as an Internet culture, with no associations to wider societal campaigns. However, as the group developed, it soon became associated with social justice and copyright campaigns. Operations against the Church of Scientology and various American government agencies that oversaw copyright issues were the beginning of Anonymous’ path to becoming social justice advocates.
Rather than adopting a set agenda, Anonymous takes on different domestic and international issues. While there are limits to how we can keep them accountable they have proven themselves to be focused on efforts that are in the public good, such as helping to limit the ISIS presence online or to out members of the KKK. Also there are still ways for Anonymous to be held accountable. Members can still be tried, and can still be restricted by online security measures.
In a world filled with social injustice and corruption, there is only so much we as citizens can do. Anonymous is the antihero whose powerful reach can hold some of these illegal and unethical actors in check.
