Morally Justified Just Virtual Vigilantism: Exploring Hacktivism

Exploring Hacktivism

Discuss About The Morally Justified Just Virtual Vigilantism.

The term hacktivism derives its origin from internet activism. In this system, computerised software are used to promote certain political agenda or the same is used to point out certain societal changes. Further, certain cyber criminals who are not that big, use hacktism in illegal ways.  The people are showing their agitation against the political system in various ways and hacktivism is one of the new forms where certain hackers are trying to promote certain political plans by hacking the computer system of others. There are several examples where hacktivism proved detrimental and posed as a threat for the society. After the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian protestors had aided in the internet anonymously in the year 2009. There are many more examples on the cyber activism and considering the effectiveness of the cyber activity, many countries have taken steps and invested billion dollars to secure their confidential files.

It has been observed that the hackers are performing their acts with certain political ideologies. One of the central examples for translating political thought in the code language is peer-to-peer platform. The activities like hacking are promoted by the hackers who are spreading their ideas by intervening the servers of others. There are two aspects of hacktivism; it can be positive that can bring societal change or it can be detrimental in nature. This character has made the nature of hacking controversial. One of the most common names of cyber hacking is Wiki leaks.

The nature and character of hacking can be different. It is depending on the user. It has been observed that the term hacking can be done for the idea of politically motivated technologies, or it can be done for the sources of anarchic disobedience or the same should be done for anti-systematic gestures. Considering various nature of the cyber activism, it can be stated that the base of cyber activism is quite controversial in nature. It has been stated by Rukundo (2017), hacking is a form of protestation. On the other hand, Oxblood Ruffin (2004) has stated that the process of hacking has done web defacement. Certain self-described hacktivists have engaged in certain attacks that resulted in unintended consequences. The business of the blue security had been destructed by the cyber hacking and they had lost their DNS provider permanently in the year 2006.  

The Dual Nature of Hacktivism

Hacktivism is an activity that reflects the concept and statement of certain people by using computer software. There are certain hacktivist group who use the instrument as a medium to reveal their concept and statement to the world. The statement can be about political ideology or social matter or about certain institution specifically. In 2006, WikiLeaks has been founded by Julian Assange to fight against the social changes. This web portal has released many important and confidential documents from which the dominating nature of the USA Government has been observed. This portal has disclosed certain confidential statements regarding the Afghanistan War Logs. Another hacktivist group is LulzSec that has been formed in 2011. The term Lulz means laugh and sec means security. This group has been formed for promoting the idea of freedom of information. It has been observed that the members of the group have decoded confidential information of Fox television, Tribune Company and Senate.gov website. The concept of traditional human rights has been reflected in the form of hacktivists, who take active part in the conventional political mobilization and raise their voice when the fundamental rights of the citizens are violated. Here the word fundamental right can be termed as human right. However, it could not be stated that the hacking activities are always promoted for good works. There are certain anonymous hackers who are using the medium to meet their ill motives. Therefore, the morality of the hacking activities is a matter of argument. It has been observed that hackers sometimes used this medium as an instrument to raise their voice against the indiscipline state. It has been observed that many government authorities have infringed the fundamental duties and interfere the personal life of the citizens. This is a direct violation towards the rights of the individual. Further, it has been observed that the activities of cyber activisms are directly connected to the public protestation. All the documents that are displayed through the hackers reflect the real condition of the human rights. It has been observed from the WikiLeaks that certain governmental organisations are interfering in the personal life of the individuals and all these information are morally superior in nature. On the other hand, in case of Anonymous, it has been observed that certain hackers have formed this group to hack the personal information of the officials with some ulterior motive. Therefore, it could not be stated that the ultimate object of hackers or the cyber activists are to raise voice against the violation of human rights and promote the theory of human rights.

Examples of Hacktivism

 A close analysis of the term reveal the fact that the hackers are promoting the idea of political activism by engaging their hacking skill and they raised their voice against the wrongful acts of the commercial institutions and government. However, it is not obvious that hacking reflects the democratic tradition only. When a hacker sets his target against conventional political institution, he might have to face the ill effects of the political oppositions too. In certain circumstances, it can be observed that opposition parties appointed hackers with a view to beat the ruling parties. Further, It is not necessary that the hackers are employing their mind for the best interest of people. There is a sheer possibility to leak out the confidential information of any organisation or government. Further, any important site can be affected by malware. Bartlett (2015) opines, “Some hacktivism springs from a hacker tradition of extreme irreverence and theatricality. Much of that irreverence started out by being apolitical, and it was once confined to an online hinterland”. There are certain examples from where it can be evident that the hackers directly affect the mainstream of websites or institution. It has been observed that in the year 2003, a hacking group named Anonymous decoded the official website of Church of Scientology. Further, the group has taken active part in the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2015.

According to current situation, hacktivism has been used to pursue certain illegal activities and the scope of their activities is illegal in nature. The illegal activities of the hackers have denied the democratic character of the hackers and therefore the concept of political protest has been diminished. Due to the dual character of the cyber activism, it is quite difficult to identify the original nature of it. Therefore, it is quite difficult to give any justification for the validity or the invalidity of the system. The cyber vigilantes can engage in both positive and negative sides. The term vigilantes denote a group who are undertaking the legal enforcement without any valid authorities.

There are many examples that show the negative impact of cyber activists and their activities are known as cyber terrorism. It has been observed that the cyber experts are decoding the websites of the institutions and enter into those portals with stealthy intention. The members of such groups are recognised as wolf hacktivist vigilantes.          

According to Chadwick and May (2016), political mobilization can be done properly with the positive cooperation of the cyber activists. Cavelty (2015) opines that the main aim of cyber activists should give focus on the proper exercise of civil rights. A common profession of the hacktivists are to protect the internet, as it is an unregulated and vacated space. Further, the hacktivists should not entertain their power other than appropriate manner and the hackers can protect the database. In the words of Bennett and Segerberg (2015), “There is a difference between a demonstration and a protest organized by a traditional political party or trade union that happens to have an online presence, and a demonstration or protest that originates from the posts of individuals on social networks.” Further, according to Jorgensen (2015), “The most public cyber activism is clearly covered by traditional human rights protections”. The human rights of the people can be established through International covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 of the organisation is directly attached to the cyber activities where the freedom regarding media has been stated.  

Many cyber activists employ their web knowledge for the protection of the rights of the citizens. In case of WikiLeaks, it has been observed that the portal has helped to understand the illegal interference of United States over the citizens of various countries. Further, important information regarding the Afghanistan war has been observed. Therefore, it can be stated that the concept of hacktivism is mixed in nature.

Reference:

Bennett, W.L. and Segerberg, A., 2015. 11. The logic of connective action: digital media and the personalization of contentious politics. Handbook of Digital Politics, p.169.

Chadwick, A. and Stromer-Galley, J., 2016. Digital media, power, and democracy in parties and election campaigns: Party decline or party renewal?.

Dunn Cavelty, M. and Jaeger, M.D., 2015. (In) visible ghosts in the machine and the powers that bind: the relational securitization of Anonymous. International Political Sociology, 9(2), pp.176-194.

Han, R., 2016. Cyber activism in china: empowerment, control, and beyond. A. B et al., The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics. Routledge (forthcoming).

Jørgensen, R.F., Møller Pedersen, A., Benedek, W. and Nindler, R., 2015. ICT and Human Rights. FRAME.

Rukundo, S., 2017. Criminals or Activists? Finding the Space for Hacktivism in Uganda's Legal Framework