Approximately 2,500 years ago in a democratic Athens, Socrates said, “Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.” I’m guessing Athenians didn’t give them the power to vote. Perhaps because our prefrontal cortices aren’t developed to their fullest biological potential, students seem similarly dismissed by the administration. Which is why, passing the party at James Administration on Wednesday, I have to hand it to the protestors for the idea of combining shock value and a good time; rocking out to dubstep is infinitely more enjoyable than clutching a sign in subzero temperatures in an outdoor march. Last week’s surprise party didn’t do wonders for proving our maturity to the Powers That Be, but it sure got their attention.
Unfortunately, stunt activism and stick-it-to-the-man protesting seem to be the only way to get a reaction. Marching a la Vietnam-era simply doesn’t turn heads anymore. Throwing shoes at presidents during press conferences, occupying entire financial districts in tents, and exposing confidential information on websites like Wikileaks, however, definitely does attract attention. Hactivist group Anonymous has picked up on this stunt activism trend.
The loosely-knit group Anonymous is nearly ten years old, but governments paid little attention until it flexed its cyber muscles. Recent activity includes leaking a phone conversation between the FBI and the Scotland Yard, hacking the military legal firm Puckett & Faraj, exposing confidential documents from the 2005 Haditha Killings trial, and posting the personal information of Oakland city officials online. From targeting government websites in the U.S., Mexico, Poland, Italy, Ireland, and Finland (to name a few) and big businesses like Sony and Universal Music, Anonymous has made the Powers That Be very aware of its presence.
While other activists may be given jail sentences for resisting policemen and causing a ruckus, the brilliance of Anonymous is that anyone and everyone can become a member and there is no central governing body or boundaries. In fact, an online video claiming to have been released by Anonymous announces, “We are not a group. You cannot join us. We are an idea.” A pretty proactive idea, apparently: a current trend attacks websites using a downloadable program called the Low Orbit Ion Cannon. Using mass media websites like YouTube, Twitter, and 4chan to reach a global, non-census population, they name a date for an impending attack and carry it out. Being in English, not Engineering, I have little idea how this Low Orbit Ion Cannon thingy works. I imagine that magical fairies wave wands and the targeted website becomes unreachable via the world wide web. Using the Low Orbit Ion Cannon, Anonymous has proven that they can contend with the biggest, baddest, and richest of the one per cent.
The James Administration protestors have faces and names attached to their actions, and they will, as the administration has assured us, be held accountable for their actions. But the scattered members of Anonymous are hidden like needles in a stack of needles. What does being anonymous allow us? We are freed from convention, inhibition and fear; our actions stand for themselves, independent and removed from the baggage of who we are or have been … and from the repercussions. Herein lies the problem: if you do not take responsibility for an action, are you really standing up for anything?
The U.S. Department of Justice’s website temporarily combusting from online traffic is a mischievous, though ultimately relatively harmless, example of hacktivism. But the line between activism and terrorism has historically been a messy one. Anti-governmental activism can become anarchic, and mob mentality can turn lethal. To use a Spiderman quotation, with great power comes great responsibility, and there is such a thing as too far. This applies to Anonymous as well as the local McGill community: when it comes to activism, get heard and go bold. But don’t go bonkers.
