My presentation featured the infamous hacktivist group Anonymous as written about by Gabriella Coleman in Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy.
I spoke about their transition from a group of hackers and trolls on 4chan (Habbo Hotel) to global pranksters and political activists. I think most of us would agree that they are subversively important. However, are they justified to do what they do? I mean, who is to say that they don't label the students of WLU as the next threat they must go after (they wont, but for the sake of discussion). This group follows no laws and has no overlaying philosophy. Who is to say that their actions are correct or just when they do not abide by the same rules they hold others accountable to.
I really think the discussion of hackers and hacktivism is one of the more challenging ethical questions. It's important for us as citizens to have access to information which might otherwise be censored, however there's obviously a breach of privacy involved in hacking, and this can only be justified to varying degrees, depending on both the situation and the moral values of the people you ask. Hacks such as the invasion of Habbo Hotel and the Ashley Madison leak, I interpret as unethical because they are damaging to individuals and their safety, without really bettering society or done in the name of human rights.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's important for government agencies to keep in mind that hackers exist and are capable of accessing their information, as it may prevent said agencies from actively working to keep information from its citizens.
I really think the discussion of hackers and hacktivism is one of the more challenging ethical questions. It's important for us as citizens to have access to information which might otherwise be censored, however there's obviously a breach of privacy involved in hacking, and this can only be justified to varying degrees, depending on both the situation and the moral values of the people you ask. Hacks such as the invasion of Habbo Hotel and the Ashley Madison leak, I interpret as unethical because they are damaging to individuals and their safety, without really bettering society or done in the name of human rights.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's important for government agencies to keep in mind that hackers exist and are capable of accessing their information, as it may prevent said agencies from actively working to keep information from its citizens.
I think that the example of Habbo hotel, whereby a hack of Bots swarmed the Habbo hotel game, restricting users to certain gameplay. Other hacks such as the Tom Cruise Scientology video also demonstrate the presence that the Anonymous group has on the internet. Not only does it demonstrate the presence but shows that they are not a force to be reckoned with as their ability on the internet is far greater than the everyday user. The group wants to promote freedom to speech and expression by using their skills to dismantle the specific channel of information that users receive from the controllers or higher powers of networks. Anonymous challenge what the public sees and at times removing, changing even adding content to the internet.
ReplyDeleteI think that the general "rules" of internet culture are an extremely blurry line and I would agree that Anonymous pretty much does not follow any whatsoever. It is certainly an ethical question up for debate- I wonder if anyone has discussed in CS323 "Media and Communication Ethics"- has anyone here taken it? I don't have a firm stance/position on what is right and wrong in regards to Anonymous, specifically, but definitely think that those in power and those who regulate internet platforms and information data bases need to be aware of groups like these and the possible threats that they can pose.
ReplyDeleteA re-occurring theme throughout this blog, and our class is the legalities of the Internet and digital spaces. Currently it seems as though the Internet is a digital grey zone and the example of hackers and hacktivism is a perfect example of this. I believe this is one of the more challenging questions as I feel that we at citizens should not be lied to by our governments and hacktivism sometimes brings light to the ongoing things our governments might not want us to know. On the other hand, operating outside the law makes it easier for people to exploit others, and you cant simply allow hacking if its purpose is for good because it would be impossible to govern the bad with this exception.
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