Activism will prevail...in one form or another

The days of the physical movements may be slowly coming to an end as entities like the World Trade Organization are making more intelligent choices with regards to locations for their large summits (for example, the 2003 WTO Summit in Cancun Mexico) which has made it increasingly more difficult for activists from around the world to attend as protesters. Aside from their rigid access points, policing efforts have become more violent and oppressive towards peaceful movements, perpetuating unnecessary violence and abusing human rights while governments turn blind eyes.

While physical actions seem to be suffering, Internet activism has since become stronger and more imminent- allowing activism to shift ranks and take on a more connected global presence, therefore making activism especially anti- corporate globalization more relevant than ever before as groups of people from Canada to Africa, France to Brazil are able to unite through networks and increase their political weight. Not only has the World Wide Web allowed people to find others who share like-minded ideas, but it has destroyed the hierarchy within activist communities by leveling off the space of activists to speak, whether it be the 80 year- old anti- war grandmother or 26 year- old anti- corporate Globalizer, they both have the same amount of power when introduced through the Internet as image, persona and to a certain degree reputation are stripped away, leaving only the bare message that fulfills a grassroots cause.

Not only has the Internet provided a forum to people from around the world but it has also helped coalitions find one another to unite, as witnessed in the 2003 international the anti-war protests grew into millions of people as sub-groups of activists were able to find one another and fight for a single inclusive cause.

Actions will always exist, it is their message that may continue to lose momentum as media coverage is rarely forgiving of them, determined to portray them in the worst possible light. But with the Internet, actions will start to move forward by promoting independent media organizations like Indymedia, who are able to offer unbiased coverage of actions and by promoting an indiscriminate environment to anyone interested in the issues at hand . While actions are usually held with the right ideals in mind, not everyone feels comfortable partaking in public spectacles, the Internet provides everyone with a right to as much anonymity as they feel necessary.

Hacktivism= Future of ACTIVISM

Reading through hackbloc.org, it donned on me that hacktivism is the most powerful form of activism and possibly the most realistic approach to anarchy in the 21st century.

Our progress towards a more networked landscape, a world quite literally built around a network seems like an extremely ironic movement in terms of the type of environment our governments are tempted to construct.

Our dependency on the Internet is an ironic progression as it is the most difficult medium for governments and authorities to successfully police. With every security development and regulation put in place by authorities, a handful of hacktivist successes are quick to follow.

Hacktivism has quite literally given anyone who is willing to learn a chance to question and challenge the authoritative constructs of Western society; as our network dependency grows so does our power as citizens. While most of us may not use hacktivism as a form of free speech, many of us are able to use the web to network ourselves based on similar interests and ideologies, whether it be organizing a movement or challenging the words of a corporation, at the end of the day everyone on the Internet is held accountable.

Hackbloc.org is an interesting blog as it is able to appeal to everyone who may be interested in activism. My initial assumptions regarding the website were that the material would be ultimately directed to those already involved with hacktivism, therefore, lexicon and ideas only familiar to those who have already taken an initiative to learn about the movement. I was surprised to see that the website actually caters to an entire spectrum of people, everyone from those interested in getting started to those who are fully educated on the culture. Hackbloc does a great a job of attracting and holding interest regardless of the viewer’s background. I am an individual who is extremely interested in activism yet fairly new to the world of hactivism, I therefore found their content to be appealing and easy to digest as they covered everything from the current political landscape as it relates to a democratic Internet- scape to material very specific to hacktivism. It is clear that the community attracted to this website is likely interested in the specific hacktivism culture, but as activists I believe that everyone should be following the website.

I like that Hackbloc uses exerts directly from the news to legitimize their cause. Not only does this referencing empower the opinions expressed on the website but they kept me interested in the current affairs of our Internet.

Hacktivism is vital to activism. I believe that activists of all kind must take the time to educate themselves in hacktivism as I truly believe that it will be the last surviving form of activism. While aggressive policing efforts may lead to the end of physical movements, Internet movements are here to stay as the strength of hacktivists resides in their ability to stay one step ahead of government controls.