Hackers turned Hacktivists

While hackers have been hired to hurt social action groups and destabilize the Internet as a life source to activists, hackers have also been simultaneously working against the grain in the name of activism, creating a movement known as Hacktivism.

The idea of hacking has been around since the early developments of the Internet. Ever since the first notable hackers like Stallman and Wozniak gained notoriety in the early 80's for their progressive technical know- how, the mainstream media have been eager to paint all hackers as criminals and "Internet terrorists", keeping in mind the idea of labeling certain groups with connotative labels like terrorist to reinforcing power structures by instilling public fear. (read more here...)

Yes, there is no doubt that there have been an enormous number of interfering hackers that have even worked against the social action movement either as independents or with corporations and other governing institutions. (click here) But, what we must acknowledge is the fact that all hackers are not evil and the movement known as Hacktivism has been emerging to fight on the side of social justice. For example, in China, groups of Hacktivists have been working to help promote freedom on the Internet against Chinese government content censorship a right that all people should have.

Hackers to Hacktivists
1980's: Birth of the Hackers/ Crackers
late 1970's: The development of Open Source technology as a movement for free information
1990's: Hacking with a political agenda- the 'Hacktivist'

Hacktivism has developed into an empowering movement that supports social justice and has been able to support the social movement with a resource to fight fire with fire against their perpetrators- governments and unjust corporations. Sites like HackBloc and The Hacktivist provide people with a hacktivist focused forum to share ideas and information as a means for connecting an international community. Not only do these sites provide independent coverage of current events taking place within the Hacktivism community but they give people a place to start by providing them with the necessary information to become educated in their cause.

Not only has Hacktivism been a key movement in the fight for social justice but it has enabled the citizens to take the power into their own hands, proving that justice will prevail!