Hactivists

                                      We are Legion- The story of Hactivists

This documentary projects the views of a culture of Internet users who go by the name Anonymous.  Anonymous users and researchers are speaking up and giving their own personal views as well as factual information on the internet culture itself. They do this by giving information on actual events that played a major role on the uprising of this culture. Individuals such as Mike Vitale (an Anonymous project Chaology, Greg Hush (An Internet activist associated with Anonymous), Ryan Single (Editor of threat wired.com), Gabriella Coleman, as well as many others shared their knowledge and opinion on various aspects of the internet culture.

Anonymous activists believe that that they have every right to go after any one person or corporation, they do everything in their power to discredit them with the belief that they are standing up for what they believe in. These actions led them to be known as Hactivists.  In this documentary they are attempting to speak from their perspectives of how and why they do all that they do, as well defend what the world thinks of them. What is interesting about this film is that it could be extremely persuasive as well as biased. All of the information given to the viewer is all one-sided information. They hardly ever speak on how the other party is being affected by their behavior. By doing this, as a viewer it makes it easier to take the side of the Anonymous group. Although they do present facts in the video, they only present facts that relate to the argument they are attempting to make. While doing this, they do not address certain issues that relate to what they are defending.  The damage that their actions have had on people’s lives, the invasion of privacy, the bullying, millions of dollars lost from companies, as well as the impact they have on the internet community as a whole. These things have affected many lives and many undeserving because of these cultures belief system.

 One of the major arguments made in the film is that Activists are much different from your stereotypical Hackers. There are some who hack for malicious intent, while there are others who hack for what they strongly believe in. There are some who choose to use their powers for good.  They claim that their hacking actions stem from their passion for defending people. For example in the film there is a scene that talks about a podcaster named Hal Turner who in the documentary is referred to as a “Neo-Nazi”. He goes “on air” on the radio and attacks other people and is extremely racist and blunt in his delivery. The Anonymous group saw this and made it their goal to make sure he never worked “on air” again. They did this by hacking, stalking, exposing, and discrediting him. They took this same approach when they went to war with the church of Scientology.

Another point of interest is what the Anonymous group ultimately stands for, which is non-secrecy. The hacktivists tend to target people such as Scientology that seem to have things to hide. Even if that is not their reason for attacking such as the Hal Turner case, where they witnessed a publicly racist man and decided to act. Their chosen weaponry is exposure.  However, they themselves are an anonymous group, when they protested they wore “V for Vendetta” masks and when they attack people on the internet their identity is never exposed.  They claim that the purpose of this is to diminish the idea of just one individual and claim this bigger idea of just one unit.  In reality they conceal their identity for protection and to avoid judgment.  The people they attack conceal themselves for these same reasons.

 The filmmaker, Brian Knappenberger makes you feel empowered by these peoples viewpoints based on the cinematic choices being made. The way the film is staged, the information being given, and just the overall tone of the film.  The people giving the information are filmed in office type spaces for the most part, some in their homes. The music feels upbeat, the lighting is relatively bright and the overall feeling it gives you is hopefulness and a bit of heroism, even inspiring. It seems the filmmaker’s goal is to give a different perspective. He does this by giving a glimpse into their lifestyle choices, as well as their battles and struggles. It seems he wants his viewers to walk away with a different emotion towards this culture versus the one we have all grown accustom to which is hackers are all just Internet nerds who live in their parents basement, they do not have a life or get any girls.  He does this by giving them a platform in which to tell their story and the truth behind their actions. He sheds light on the mysteries of Internet hackers and their culture.