Recently a class instructor of mine posted a discussion on vigilante justice and the rise of Anonymous, an ungoverned and un-led worldwide group of “hacktivists” that combat overly-intrusive governments, large corrupt institutions, extreme censorship (mainly on the internet) and troll. Anonymous has become a powerful face for activism, working through a sort of modified “Tyler Durden” mindset similar to the themes from “Fight Club.” They believe in a society where what people believe should have no expressive inhibitors, and little to nothing should be censored. They’ve found the perfect vessel to propel their beliefs: the internet, a place where traditional common law has yet to fully infiltrate rules and enforcement. While many government officials and regulators hate the group, and have had a hard time taming it and others like it, a lot of people support this rather extreme take on exercising free speech and pushing back against large government and corruption.
My first impression of Anonymous was that it was just a collection of those angsty boys who were bullied in high school on account of their antisocial personalities, acne and bad posture, so they spent their time learning how to hack computers and make fun of people behind the safety of the internet. When a member witnesses injustice, internet activists will work through Anonymous to gain support and organize an operation to right the world’s wrongs.
So, while some of their actions are harmless, like “Rickrolling” millions through modified hyperlinks, there have been some more extreme cases that have ended in everyday people getting swarmed around their dinner tables by SWAT agents, only to be punished further with substantial prison sentences for crimes they didn’t know were possible to commit.
This is what happened to 19-year-old Dmitriy Guzner. According to Chris Parker of The Huffington Post, Guzner participated in a three-person protest against Scientology that was organized by Anonymous, and “the next day … visited a webpage that made him part of a distributed denial-of-service attack on Scientology’s website.”
The government fears groups like Anonymous because of how little their members seem to care about the consequences of their words and expressions, and how far they’re willing to go to protect the internet from censorship. But potentially ruining a normal 19-year-old’s life with a prison sentence for visiting a website seems unwarranted. It’s just the government’s desperate way of trying to control people as much as possible, which is why Anonymous and its followers have gone to such great lengths to fight back.
I’ve come to realize that while Anonymous is annoying sometimes, and extremely insensitive to socially touchy areas like race, they actually do have a valuable place in society. Just like journalists and public protesters, we need people who will take risks to speak their minds — who are more aggressive and passionate about their beliefs than the Average Joe, and who fight to ensure everyone’s freedom. It actually gives me peace of mind knowing that there are still people and groups out there that can scare the government and its regulators, and even beat them in some ways.
The internet is a world of blurred lines, and lawmakers are only just starting to adapt. While it’s inevitable that such a widespread and diverse group like Anonymous won’t be “right” all the time in its pursuits, I would rather have people expressing themselves freely and passionately for some things I believe in and others I don’t, than have our entire society at the feet of our government without a voice.