Hacktivism
This week one of the Lecture content topics was about what is known as "Hacktivism". I read the article that was posted by Lateline. At first I found myself sympathizing with the hackers which I was surprised at....
I personally like to challenge the typical status quo and I've always found it troublesome that big business is able to "get away" with so much. Here in this article about ANONYMOUS you see described a bunch of people that are trying to fight back, even if its just an excuse for them to have some fun. Although their cause isn't exactly 'just' its still an interesting concept that activism in this generation could possibly be done primarily online.
I found a really interestin academic journal on the topic of online activsm that was particularly focused on China. In china there is far less freedom of speech and much more state control, so it is no surprise that it is becoming incresingly popular to make your stand as a faceless person online, rather than to risk government prosecution. The article by Yang (2009) had an interesting statement regarding online activism in China and what it seeks to achieve, he stated;
Online political activism focuses on human rights, political reform, and other issues that touch directly on how China is governed, by whom, and on what basis (p.34)
There really is no other place where more people can be gathered in one place than on the internet and so it seems like a very natural progression for the next 'revolutionaries' to begin to gather within an online community.
The group Anon. (anonymous) is the most famous online hacking group and they appear to be rustling a lot of feathers. This group is effectively using new communication technologies to communicate their principle to a wide audience.
I'm not one for anarchy but I see merit in people being able to fight together and have their voice heard.
A quote from the article described the groups intent well;
ANONYMOUS MEMBER: The best way to describe it would be that it is a culture that embraces the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression and the freedom of information, taken to a logical extreme (Barlow, 2011)
Barlow, K. (2011). Hacktivism Hits News International. Lateline. Retrieved online
July,
2012, from http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3275140.htm
July,
2012, from http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3275140.htm
Yang, G. (2009). Online activism. Journal of Democracy, 20(3), 33-36. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview
/195550965?accountid=14543
http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview
/195550965?accountid=14543
