Anonymous: Cyberspace Meets Meatspace

The Internet has been rife with skirmishes recently. And the battles have run the gamut, from the physical (those mysteriously slashed cables in Middle Eastern seas) to the theoretical (proposed Net Neutrality legislation on Capitol Hill) to the political (viral presidential propaganda). But the most significant example of a cyberspace movement crossing into meatspace was the digitally organized protest known as “Project Chanology” that the group Anonymous put on in front of Scientology churches all over the wired world.

It was just a few months ago that Anonymous was little more than a poorly understood online group of hacktivists. Then the Church of Scientology tried to force web sites to take down a video starring Scientology celebrity spokesperson Tom Cruise. Anonymous initially reacted with a petty distributed denial-of-service attack on Scientology’s official web site, but it wasn’t long before the group issued a digital manifesto promising the dismantling of Scientology altogether. Then last week, Anonymous took to the streets, organizing physical protests in front of Scientology Churches all over the world.

Some six months ago, when Anonymous first started making ripples on YouTube (embedded above), the group came off as something more akin to Palahniuk’s subconscious than Thoreau’s conscientious objection. As it evolved, Anonymous began to make rules governing both its operations and its philosophy, in both the digital and real worlds. Using social media, it evolved toward an actionable cause that galvanized thousands.

Things changed for Anonymous when the group, which mainstream media, specifically Fox News, called “hackers on steroids,” decided to use sandwich boards as well as circuit boards. The battle against Scientology’s questionable methods started with a message to the organization of Scientology. Then there was a plea to the individuals within Scientology. But it was Anonymous’ call to action that pushed the group beyond the category mere Internet blowhard.

The last video issued before the day of action (embedded below) lays out 22 rules of protesting that everyone should know before raging against the machine. Anonymous clearly includes members with protesting experience and a commitment to defending freedom of speech through civil disobedience. The video not only connects the virtual and physical, but New Age protest tools to the methods used in the ’50s and ’60s.

The final rule writes web-savvy tactics into the organization’s very fiber. Anonymous knows that history is no longer written by just the victor. In the digital world everyone is a historian, a pundit and a reporter, recording their world online.

Finally, Rule #22: Document the demonstration. Videos and pictures of the event may be used to corroborate your side of the story if law enforcement get involved. Furthermore, posting images and videos of your heroic actions all over the internet is bound to generate win, exhorting other Anonymous to follow your glorious example.

Anonymous succeeded in controlling a huge amount of the coverage of its protest. Scientology has been largely quiet throughout this process, save for issuing a statement dismissing the group as “cyberterrorists” perpetrating “hate crimes” and accusing Anonymous of suppressing free speech.

More tangible than the HD-DVD/Digg upheaval and more immediate than Ron Paul’s fervent online following, Project Chanology lent real civic strength to the Internet. Anonymous set a very specific goal with this protest and met it — in front of hundreds of cameras all over the world. In a way, the group is defining what digital civil disobedience looks like. We’ll see what kind of showing its masked members make during its next “call to action” during the ides of March.

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