Picketing online

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN. 4. The familiar neighbourhood activist ever eager to stage a sit-in or join a picketline may never quite go out of fashion but they should be looking out for some competition from a new breed of protesters called ``hacktivists''.

They don't wave flags or carry cards; and prefer to work from the comfort of their homes. Yet, when the chips are down, they can be more lethal than a slogan-shouting mob. With a push of a button they can do more damage to the ``enemy'' than a dozen activists sweating it out on the street.

With the Internet being increasingly used by computer- savvy political campaigners to get across their message, ``hacktivism'' is emerging as a new form of protest - silent but more effective according to its practitioners. A large number of sites, specialising in online ``terrorism'', are already functioning in the U.K. and the U.S. and some of them were used during the anti- WTO protests at Seattle and in aid of a host of other causes last year.

``Hacktivists'' are different from ``hackers'' in the sense that unlike the latter, they are not in the business of sending malicious mail or playing practical jokes on other netizens. They are politically committed people - academics, professionals, students - who have chosen the net to raise issues which worry them. Their methods are targeted against corporate monopolies, racist groups and the new global order which they think breeds social and economic inequities. ``Hacktivism'' is also deployed to raise issues relating to freedom of expression, the increasingly ``repressive'' power of the State, and environment. It is a broad agenda of social and political issues which is sought to be pursued through ``technological'' means.

In an investigation, The Guardian says that their tactics range from clogging the ``enemy'' websites with messages to diverting their traffic to other sites - in one case, it says, people seeking the Ku Klux Klan site were directed to hatewatch.org site instead. Often the targeted sites are defaced or they are inundated with access requests thus slowing down the speed of the server or even sending it crashing.

``Hacktivism allows us to mount better arguments, rally unseen allies and take on any tyranny,'' says Mr. Oxblood Ruffin of a hactivist group, Cult of the Dead Cow, in an interview to The Guardian. He and other hactivists make the point that with the net you don't need a crowd to make your presence felt. ``Programmes make a difference, not people,'' according to Mr Ruffin.

Unlike hackers, ``hacktivists'' don't like to hide behind anonymity and some even publish their phone numbers on their sites. Many have a voluntary code of conduct which prohibits them from accessing other people's computers. The idea, they say, is to use the net in a creative way to take on the adversary rather than resort to destructive ways. Those who indulge in a bit of destruction are expected to come on board gradually as they go along.

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Section  : International
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