Being an activist meant participating in demonstrations, marching in various capitals and throwing tea in ports. This concept has been changed forever by the digital revolution, introducing a new generation of activists: hacktivists. A hacktivist is what the name suggests and an activist who uses computers instead of pushing in person. These groups, whether Anonymous, Lulzsec, Antisec, /i/ and many others, primarily seek to help people, sometimes even animals, fight for rights and against oppression. The growing hackivism movement can be explained by the growing use of computers. The less we need to worry about street fighting, the more we need to worry about the near-implosion of the Internet as groups numbering in the thousands lead cyber attacks. Hacktivism is a revolutionary idea that has made anyone with a Wi-Fi connection or an Ethernet cable an ever-ready freedom fighter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay God Hates Fags. Soldiers died because God wanted them to. Death to all homosexuals. These are some of the common slogans of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. Such slogans are made because of the ultra-religious ideals held by the church members. They picket soldiers' funerals, indoctrinate children, and have been nearly at war with the group known primarily as "Anonymous" for years. As the church became more and more well-known, it attracted more and more ire from the online community until everything came to a screeching halt. The church sites were all taken down via systems called DDoSing, LOIC and HOIC by these hacktivists. Essentially, they flood servers until they can no longer function, effectively shutting down websites. Westboro Baptists have tried to fight back but have fallen short each time, as seen when an interview held with an anonymous member and a church member ended with the interviewer being told to check the church website, as it was shut down during the attack. interview (Packman). The conflict slowly subsided, until one day the church shocked the community with the sudden announcement that it would picket the funerals of the Sandy Hook victims. Since then, Anonymous has vowed to wipe them off the map. This series of clashes was one of the largest, most public, and among the first true demonstrations of the power of hacktivism. Real people fought from behind their keyboards and won, stopping hate groups and the like. However, not all fights are that big. In reality there are many more hacktivists, just like activists, working on a small scale; send PayPal money to a random person to pay their rent or feed their dogs (Anonymous). In 2001, Marc Prensky coined the terms “digital immigrant” and “digital native” meaning those born before the technological age and those born in said era, respectively (Prensky 4-5). The current grandparents marched for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, the next generation saw the end of the Cold War and fought racism and cuts to education. In the current era, the digital native generation is facing an entirely new battle, ranging from cyberbullying to cyber warfare. “Shut it down and ignore it” is a common response to cyberbullying; as if our social lives don't thrive or perhaps exist online. This digital conflict has led people to resort to fighting again, between groups as small as one on one or thousands on thousands, if not more. So, how.
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