Just in it for the lulz?
Supporters of Wikileaks are dedicated to freedom of speech - until, that is, someone disagrees with them.
“Humankind,” wrote Eliot, “cannot stand very much reality”. And so it is with a bunch of self-styled net buccaneers calling itself LulzSec.
The US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) - normally the darling of those with anti-corporate leanings - has suffered the ire of these ‘hacktivists’. Apparently, it screened a documentary about Wikileaks that was not entirely flattering. Such insults are not to be borne.
There is a distinct whiff of Anonymous about LulzSec - the same whimsical self-regard, the same adolescent posturing. (There is, for what it’s worth, a #lulzsec channel on irc.anonops.in. It’s unlikely to be any kind of official hangout - I was the only person in there when I checked it out.)
Denial of service attacks and website defacement are the preferred forms of protest for Anonymous. They are high-profile acts that require little effort, minimal skill and involve relatively little risk. There is, of course, the unfortunate side-effect that the downing of a website effectively denies the legitimate owner of free speech. This form of hactivism is a way of shutting up those whose opinions differ from yours.
It seems that LulzSec is gearing up for more attacks on Sony - the target du jour of Anonymous. Meanwhile, the group is basking in the attention garnered by the PBS stunt - and getting attention was probably half the point in the first place.
The Internet is a powerful medium for activism and deserves to be used as such. But hacktivism needs to be driven by more than petulance. If the Internet is to serve as a place for taking a principled stand, it’s important that it does not acquire a reputation for immature pranks. Vandalism is not an effective way of engaging in complex debates about political responsibility, freedom of information or digital rights.
LulzSec has yet to elucidate any meaningful principles or agenda, other than a desire to show off in public. Assuming it has a genuine ethical purpose behind its behaviour, perhaps these will be spelled out on a forthcoming website. Let’s hope so.
