Anonymous 2012: a year in review

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:39:00 +0000

In 2012, the loose association of tech-based activists protested bullying, LGBT discrimination, corporate media, Israel, Muslim genocide, police brutality, election-rigging, douchebaggery/bullying, surveillance, nationalist education, and of course Internet censorship—expanding both the range of its “causes” and the tools it deployed to defend them.

Of course, it’s impossible to say with certainty which actions "Anonymous" actually pulled off, since its membership is ill-defined and anyone can claim association, not to mention that sometimes Anonymous hacktivists act alone or as part of a subgroup. Even when Anonymous has put out one of its quintessential videos claiming responsibility for a hack or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service—shutting down a website by flooding it with requests) attack, it hasn’t always turned out to be true.

Given that, below are Anonymous’ “Top 20” for 2012. With its widening arsenal and focus, one can only imagine what these Internet denizens have in store for 2013.

[slide_show id=13151256]

Disneyland under siege

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Images coming out of Anaheim, Calif. -- best known as the home of Disneyland -- would suggest that the Magic Kingdom is under siege. Police SWAT teams, donning military fatigues and clutching what look like grenade launchers, blocked streets around the park just days after riot cops sent a barrage of less-than-lethal ammunition, including a gnashing police dog, into a crowd of men, women and young children; militarized police watched over street gatherings from surrounding rooftops.

The militaristic spectacle comes in response to an upsurge in already regular police brutality protests in Anaheim. In the past 10 days Anaheim police shot dead two young Latino men -- the fourth and fifth fatal police shootings in the area this year alone (four of which involved Hispanic men). This is Anaheim, outside of the Happiest Place on Earth™; a long-festering situation of inequality and police aggression falling -- as is so often the case -- along racial fault lines and beyond the media gaze.

Salon.com > Anaheim

Anonymous 2012: a year in review

Disneyland under siege