Anonymous, Australia, and the Inevitable Fall of the Nation-State

There is always a point at which the terrorist ceases to manipulate the media gestalt. A point at which the violence may well escalate, but beyond which the terrorist has become symptomatic of the media gestalt itself. Terrorism as we ordinarily understand it is inately media-related. The Panther Moderns differ from other terrorists precisely in their degree of self-consciousness, in their awareness of the extent to which media divorce the act of terrorism from the original sociopolitical intent...

- William Gibson, Neuromancer, 1984

A phenomenon of great importance will not necessarily receive the attention it merits, and thus we may conclude that there is perhaps something going on this very instant to which we ought to be paying attention if we care to know what the future holds for us, in which case we should take a moment to examine what is novel today for signs that it may prove common tomorrow.

Ten years ago it would have been infeasible for tens of thousands of individuals with no physical connection or central leadership to conceive, announce, and implement a massive act of civil disobedience against a significant Western power, crippling a portion of its online infrastructure in the process - and to do all of this in a matter of days, and without anyone involved having to contend with the tear-gas-and-horseback response with which states have traditionally been in the habit of contending with mass action. But such a thing as this is happening today, and having been done once will almost certainly be done again - repeatedly, increasingly, and with potentially significant consequences for the nation-state and implications regarding that which will perhaps someday come to replace it.

In 1984, William Gibson introduced a great deal of what would become the iconography of the internet by way of the future world depicted in his novel Neuromancer. He also described a group of nihilistic young terrorists whose acts were often surrealist in nature and whose specialized common language and behavior had evolved quickly, one of many dramatic youth trends that were forever popping up and disappearing with an unprecedented rapidity facilitated by "cyberspace," a term Gibson invented. A decade later the author described an organization called the Republic of Desire, itself made up largely of proficient internet users in the habit of conducting destructive pranks both for amusement and reasons more practical, and occasionally even ideological.

That some great array of individuals would come to unite via the advent of the internet and thus work in concert against a shared antagonist - perhaps a hated social convention or aesthetic sensibility - was not only predictable, but predicted. And now it is happening, most noticeably in the form of the ongoing denial of service (DDOS) attacks and other actions being taken against websites of the Australian government by the semi-absurdist semi-organization known as Anonymous, itself an outgrowth of the popular image board 4chan along with an interlocking directorate of associated internet entities.

The attacks in question, in which thousands of computer users work in concert to overload a given website with requests for information and thereby shut it down for the duration, are prompted by a recent spate of moves on the part of the Australian government to censor and otherwise regulate content available to its citizens via the internet, an effort in which the Aussie state has been unusually enthusiastic relative to most of its Western counterparts. Anonymous' current campaign is the second of its kind; the first, in 2008, targeted the Church of Scientology with DDOS attacks, a series of in-the-flesh protests outside Scientology centers worldwide, the theft and dissemination of sensitive documents, and a variety of other steps - all coordinated, or not, in a decentralized fashion that provides for no names, ranks, or central direction.

The specifics of this particular case have already been described with varying levels of accuracy by some of the more astute media outlets ranging from Wired to the BBC. Some of the details expressed regarding Anonymous will be wrong, as usual, but the details matter little as nothing is likely to come of this incident, whereas the implications for the future defy overstatement. Having taken a long interest in the subculture from which Anonymous is derived and the new communicative structures that make it possible, I am now certain that this phenomenon is among the most important and under-reported social developments to have occurred in decades, and that the development in question promises to threaten the institution of the nation-state and perhaps even someday replace it as the world's most fundamental and relevant method of human organization. Over the next week or so, I will make this case more formally.

[Cross-posted from True/Slant]

Update: Friday 6:30 EST

I was contacted last night by a person whom I've verified to have been the member of Anonymous who effectively launched the 2008 campaign against the Church of Scientology by posting the now-infamous statement of purpose video, which was eventually viewed nearly four million times and which was followed by Project Chanology. The individual has offered to grant me an interview:

We are very happy with the article you wrote. I spent a lot of time working on press for the titstorm guys over the last few days. Sending out the big press release, answering and interviewing with abc, bbc, and so on. Its been busy. It is nice when someone actually gets Anonymous. So few journalists do.

What a sweet thing to say! At any rate, I'll post the interview after it's been conducted. I find that this works better than posting them before they've been conducted. It's an old journalism trick.

 

Comments

[JackWhistle]

01:30 PM on 02/12/2010

Weird. I've been musing for a while that the Internet would inevitably make the concept of "Nations" obsolete.. I dunno what would take their place. My way of thinking is that psychologically, its kinda hard to maintain the 'them - us' mindset when your friends with members from half of all other nations. The current 'popular' form of government still seems set on emulating the whole.. imperialistic, or feudalistic form. Cooperation seems a relatively new, and by my limited observations, largely unused/foreign concept to nations. I dunno. But that governments wouldn't be able to maintain themselves against DDOS attacks? That doesn't seem/feel so likely. But then again, I dunno.

[Salvatore90]

08:05 PM on 02/11/2010

Whether or not the proposed internet filter is a good or bad thing does not justify the criminal "solution" of Anonymous. What if I, as a working, productive citizen, WANT the government to prevent my children from exposure to child porn? You may disagree and think I am a fool, a sheep, or whatever you want. But I may choose to disagree. How do we resolve these differences? Anonymous' "solution" is to sabotage some part of my government communication system. I guess that is going to cost me something in additional tax dollars to repair or maintain, or purchase additional security, etc. Does Anonymous care about me? No, they disagree with me so I am expendable. Funny, it is the same sort of mentality they falsely accuse the Church of Scientology of following. I know it will be rejected if I refer to Anonymous' conduct as terrorism, but it is the same mentality. Sending a suicide bomber is (they think) much more persuasive than pursuing legal, political discourse. It is the same lazy, criminal, mentality used by a high school bully who finds it easier to cheat or steal from others rather than work and contribute something constructive. Deliberately crashing someone else's computer, whether of an individual or a government, is a use of destructive force and an admission that you are incapable of more social means of communication.

[Barrett Brown]

12:07 PM on 02/12/2010

Your defense of the Church of Scientology as being "falsely" accused of illegal behavior is absolutely ludicrous, and probably indicative of your own association with that degenerate organization; perhaps you're familiar with Operation Snow White? Clearly, the fact that Anonymous engages in crime is not really your concern, or you'd be concerned with the CoS as well.

[maxben]

07:29 AM on 02/14/2010

Ahh, but you miss the point. You CAN'T stop it! When you move towards the future you can try braking and slowing it down, but its really inevitable. That's what the old British Tories learned after the French Revolution, you can't fight a new form of social consciousness from appearing. Anonymous represent the perfect form of collective consciousness because it is impossible to separate one member from the rest, and yet it is run in a decentralized so there are no holds on member, no force keeping them in line. What they do is unimportant, what they represent is; a change in paradigm

[guytaur1]

06:19 PM on 02/11/2010

You are correct Mr Brown. The Internet Censorship Filter proposed by the Australian Government is along the lines of The Great Firewall of China. So an altruistic and indeed good cause can be used for the methods of this group. Next will be Climate Change. Then it will cascade down into the likes of Al Qaeda.
So much as I think the Nation States are reacting to exactly the changes you describe. I see no point to the Australian Government Internet Filter otherwise. The problem is that as usual the nation state is overreacting to the potential loss of power.
In the West this can only be overcome with a proper democracy along the original Greek model that technology enables. Many more votes on individual issues directly by the citizen and not by a representative in a capital far away. There are dangers in this of course. Fraud, mistakes and the like.
However, we have overcome those in traditional voting. We will again in future.
I see this as the only real way of preserving a nation state in the future.
Totalitarian regimes however are going to be in a world of trouble.