#hacktivism farm protest

[thestickypost]

Farmers' Protests Activists Reportedly Using Ransomware to Demand Justice

Farmers’ Protests Activists Reportedly Using Ransomware to Demand Justice

Farmers’ protests activists are reportedly using a ransomware-style cyber attack in a bid to raise more voices towards the cause of the protesting farmers in India. In light of the ongoing farmer protests against the newly instated Farm Bills 2020, Quick Heal, an Indian cyber security organisation, has claimed to have found proof of a cyber attack campaign by a group seemingly called ‘Khalsa…

[tbitzas-blog]

Begin the new age of activism!

C“FIGHT FOR OUR FUTURE”, “THERE IS NO PLANET B”, “BE PART OF THE SOLUTION NOT THE POLLUTION”. 

Imaged sourced from (Climate Council).

These slogans were one of thousands that featured on our streets all over the world on March 15. In case you weren’t aware, this date marked one of the largest global climate change movements in activism history, with an estimated 1.4 million pupils attending in over 2000 cities worldwide . The face of this campaign you may ask? Well, don’t let this upset you in feeling accomplished of your life achievements thus far. She is a girl that still wears her hair in two plaits, she is a girl that has barely finished going through puberty, and she is a girl that is still completing 9th grade. Her name is Greta Thunberg, and she was only 15 years old when she inspired the ‘School Strike for Climate’. 

Image sourced from (Change.org).

So, how did this little girl from Sweden unite an entire globe you may ask? Well, her lone campaigning outside of Swedish Parliament for several months did win her a substantial amount of media attraction, however, social media can really be seen as the heart of her political protest. 

The new era of Twitter and Facebook enabled Greta’s ‘School Strike for Climate’ political campaign to become viral, with Facebook events and Twitter posts created almost instantaneously rallying the cause. These networking sites unified the world who all shared the same concern for their planet. March 15 serves as a significant date in our history, not only for the remarkable international movement of school students, but also for the powerful role social media plays in organising today’s activism campaigns. 

While the fundamentals of activism and protests remain the same as it did 250 years ago, the way people organise and congregate has evolved. 

Amid the turbulence of protests for civil rights and against the Vietnam war a mere 50 years ago, leaders would pass out flyers, petition and talk to people directly to organise, rather than the quick post or tweet on Facebook and Twitter as is the case today. 

The convenience of social media has replaced the need for telephone trees, letters and a lot more paper, making it easier for leaders to mobilise people more quickly.

It’s pretty safe to say that nowadays you don’t necessarily need to have a one compelling leader like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr possessing some kind of magical quality to stand at a podium, or at the front of a march to convey an inspiring message. All you need is some pretty colourful banners, a bit of cardboard attached to a stick and some graphic display of graffiti art if you’re feeling a bit extra. Well, at least this is the case for Mark Derry, who includes graffiti art as one of the four forms of culture jamming, in conjunction with performance art, hacktivism and adbusting.

Its almost hard to imagine how different the protests for civil rights would have played out in the 1960’s and 1970’s, if the technological age had been so advanced as it is today. 

Would Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. still march arm-in-arm with other civil right activists, would Cesar Chavez still hoist a pick sign in a farm worker’s site and would Gloria Steinem still rally other feminists for equal rights? Well to tell you the truth, who really knows, but I’m sure it would have saved them a lot more time and a lot less tree wastage for paper.

[matildajohnstone-blog]

On Online Activism

Is the internet good for ‘real’ activism? Or does it merely glorify the hard work of the activists, giving a protest or movement it’s 15 minutes of fame? News outlets are very quick to label such activism as a “Facebook revolution” or “Twitter revolution” (Gerbaudo, 2012). Is the use of this language designed to undermine the cause of the movement and belittle the protestors? It rings fairly condescending to my ears. However, I believe the strength of the passionate activists transcends the condescension of the news outlets. After all, establishments such as broadcast News and other traditional media are often at the heart of what is being protested.

Such forms of digital activism such as ‘hacktivism’ (like Anonymous) and ‘leaktivism’ (like WikiLeaks) seem to want to gain publicity as a way of promoting their anti-establishment message, despite legal or other consequences. I have recently read about a form of online activism called ‘quiet activism’ where digital activists provide covert ways for people in policed states to access internet, for one example (Karatzogianni, 2016). Another example includes hiding links in Wikipedia sites. This sort of activity suggests that some protesters are in fact questioning the loudness of campaigns dubbed ‘Facebook or Twitter Revolutions.’ Alternatively, and I believe more likely, they understand the strengths and weaknesses of different media and know that in some cases, such as policed states, this sort of ‘make as much noise’ activism is potentially unsafe.

 An argument outlined by Gerbaudo suggests that social media’s main role in activism is the choreography of events (2016). Social media sites and their ability to reach mass audiences, as well as very targeted audiences, certainly do have their role in this side of activism. However, I do believe they offer a lot more. As a social media user, I have learned about many great causes through link sharing, Facebook status’, I have even had chances to contribute to smaller scale things like helping someone’s sick relative or pet. To me, a massive part of activism is getting the word out, and social media is great at this. My favourite example and a cause I am deeply passionate about is Oscar’s Law. This group rallied to have state law’s changes in Victoria to ban puppy farms and the sale of puppies in pet shops, and as of July 2018 this law has been enforced! Some good news to end the post on.

(Oscars Law, 2019)

I think there is a lot to say for online activism, I think I could write a thesis on it if I needed to! But, when it comes to spreading the word and getting people involved, the internet and social media are a great tool.

References:

Gerbaudo, P 2012, Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism, Pluto, London.

Karatzogianni, A 2016, Beyond hashtags: how a new wave of digital activists is changing society. [online] The Conversatio < https://theconversation.com/beyond-hashtags-how-a-new-wave-of-digital-activists-is-changing-society-57502> viewed 1 February 2019

Oscar's Law 2019, Bandana,< https://www.oscarslaw.org/shop/misc/bandana viewed 1 February 2019