Anonymous v. Scientology
The internets (and old media, too) have been ablaze with the Anonymous declaration of their intent to “disassemble” the disgusting Church of Scientology.
I mostly ignored this.
It is nothing new, really. Scientology versus the internet has been with us, well, since well before alt.relgions.scientology on Usenet. It has continued, at a regular and consistent pace for a decade and some now. The torch has been picked up by Digg kids and 4channers — possibly why I’ve let it fall from my attention.
In January, 2008, however, the tone and activities of the opposition changed. Anonymous, a netroots, faceless, culturally-inspired movement of indeterminable size and enticing appeal and mystery, declared war on Scientology and did so with impressive zeal and attention.
On February 10, 2008, they group conducted moderately-sized worldwide protests. From Vancouver to London and Clearwater, Florida, individuals wearing “V for Vendetta” inspired Guy Fawkes’ masks and armed with little other than information, documents, images, and stories, angrily came together in front of Scientology Centres with purpose.
Anonymous has begun to use their tech background and took credit for a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). The attack took Scientology.org down for several days. They’ve launched an incredibly successful viral video campaign and crowdsourced protests around the world. They’ve garnered the attention of old media away from how fat celebrities are to how Scientology is somehow tax-exempt.
Wikinews coverage highlights the story, and links to several other primary and secondary sources. Wikipedians have also developed a Scientology and the Internet entry, which summarizes the history and origins of the conflict.
The video campaign has been most impressive.
Initial declaration of opposition to Scientology:
Anonymous press release and declaration of nonviolence:
Vancouver Anonymous Protests
Their method of organization and communication is quite distinctive. These actions should hopefully inspire other Anonymous campaigns ahead, particularly as political expression in highly controlled states versus a myriad of issues.
Whether or not Anonymous v. Scientology will be successful, however, will be a clear marker of the strength of such future tactics. We wish them well.
Photo by David Shankbone from WikiCommons.
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