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  • Online group Anonymous has threatened to release a list of influential public figures with

  • ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The release of the list coincides with Guy Fawkes day, who’s

  • face has been used to symbolically represent the group, in the form of a stylized mask.

  • Not unlike Guy Fawkes himself, Anonymous has been called dangerous, disruptive, and infamous.

  • So what exactly do we know about Anonymous, and just how powerful are they?

  • Well, Anonymous is an interesting phenomenon. While many media outlets refer to them as

  • a concentrated group, they can be more accurately described as a loose movement. Anybody can

  • join, and there is no central, singular representation of the group. There are certain themes more

  • common to Anonymous members, such as internet activism and obviously, anonymity. But there

  • is no way to ascribe broad qualities to the group, or even know how many members there

  • are. The problem with quantifying Anonymous, is that there is no criteria for being a member.

  • What we do know, is that Anonymous began in the early 2000s on the image and message board

  • 4chan. It naturally represented the internet’s inherent ability to promote anonymous discussion.

  • Within this framework, popular ideas gained more traction, regardless of their origin.

  • And without the negative consequences associated with being identified, the group became increasingly

  • provocative and chaotic, touting anti-establishment values, and a disruption of the status quo.

  • They first gained attention in 2008 for organizing an online attack on Scientology. Although

  • the attack consisted of mostly juvenile pranks, like faxing black paper to the organization,

  • or making crank calls, the sheer number of contributors was overwhelming. The ability

  • to collectively overpower a common target led to their most consistent tool: DDOS attacks.

  • In a nutshell, DDOS, ordistributed denial of serviceis when a website receives more

  • requests than it can handle, causing it to crash. Through this method, Anonymous has

  • been able to take down websites belonging to any groups they disagree with. But of course,

  • taking down a website is relatively inconsequential, so is Anonymous really all that powerful?

  • Well, as the group has evolved, it has attracted members with the ability to do more than simply

  • annoy, or disrupt. A spin-off organization, known asLulzSec”, has been implicated

  • in hacking and releasing personal information, leading to considerably more real-world effects.

  • E-mail accounts and passwords belonging to people connected to Sony Pictures, and the

  • US Senate were made public; even the CIA’s website was briefly shut down. This resulted

  • in the arrests of several leading members of LulzSec.

  • However, those tactics, alongside existinginternet activism”, have led to global

  • events like the Arab Spring, which was only possible through coordinated and anonymous

  • planning amongst a huge number of like-minded people. It might be misleading to askHow

  • Powerful is Anonymous”, when what Anonymous really represents is the changing nature of

  • collective action, vigilante justice, and communication fostered by the internet.

  • One of Anonymousmost powerful symbols is the peculiar mask their members wear known

  • as the Guy Fawkes mask. To learn more about the real-life man who inspired it, check out

  • Seeker Daily’s video at the top. Some might argue that Anonymoustactics are borderline

  • online trolling. Is that protected speech? Find out in our video down below. Thanks for

  • watching TestTube News! Don’t forget to like and subscribe for new videos.

Online group Anonymous has threatened to release a list of influential public figures with

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