On November 5th, protesters around the world gathered in the name of the hacktivist group Anonymous to commemorate Guy Fawkes and to tell their governments that "enough is enough". Most of all, the stated goal of the protest was to “to remind this world what it has forgotten, that fairness, justice and freedom are more than just words".
Anonymous is a hacktivist group that became internationally know last year after it led a series of cyberattacks against the database of the CIA, SONY, banks, and other corporations, as well as worked to track down and expose perpetrators of crimes, such as rape. The group has lost some popularity since last year, but their membership is still strong. Although its decentralized structure means that members do not always hold unified goas, the group acts on specific ideas mostly demanding a change in the world’s traditional models.
This time, the protesters who took part in this worldwide event were fighting against corruption within governments, including the more recent National Surveillance Agency (NSA) scandals.
Supporters of Anonymous, also known as Anons, have become renown around the world for wearing the masks of Guy Fawkes. The masks, which reached world fame with Alan Moore's movie V for Vendetta, also became synonyms of Anonymous and the Occupy movement and tokens representing the fight against tyranny. It was Anonymous who organized the "Million Mask March" around the world on this 5th of November, during which most participants wore the masks.
The Facebook page of the event called the event as a "call for Anonymous, Wikileaks, the Pirate Party, Occupy, and Oath Keepers to defend humanity. Remember who your enemies are: billionaires who own banks and corporations who corrupt politicians that then enslave people in injustice".
Protesters met in 450 major cities across the world, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Serbia, Belize, Switzerland, Brazil, Poland, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Nigeria.
Washington D.C. was the meeting point in the U.S.; participants met at the Washington Monument and walked in the direction of the White House, where a protester was arrested.
Despite the transnational feature of the protest, the epicenter of the movement was the city of London. The reason for this goes back to Guy Fawkes, a Catholic terrorist who was arrested by British authorities after he attempted (and failed) to blow up the House of Lords in London on the 5th of November of 1605. When asked why he had wanted to carry out such an action, Fawkes replied that it was "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains".
Following Fawkes' arrest, the 5th of November became a day to shame Catholic dissenters, but later on it became a celebration to in the name of Guy Fawkes and his figure as an anti-authoritarian hero.
The London participants gathered at Trafalgar Square to then march to parliament and meet with other Anonymous activists and supporters to demand more transparency from the government. More than anything, the protest was a cry for change. British comedian Russell Brand, who recently went viral in an interview with Jeremy Paxman in which he criticizes modern democracy and calls for a revolution, was spotted at the London Million Mask march.
The protests were peaceful, and that participants were urged by the organizers to refrain from using violence, favoring instead a protest without aggression. More than a protest, some considered it as a festival of ideas and discussion of political views.
Photo by Michael Tapp (cc).
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Photo Friday: A Million Masks Marching on the Fifth of November
November 8, 2013
On November 5th, protesters around the world gathered in the name of the hacktivist group Anonymous to commemorate Guy Fawkes and to tell their governments that "enough is enough". Most of all, the stated goal of the protest was to “to remind this world what it has forgotten, that fairness, justice and freedom are more than just words".
Anonymous is a hacktivist group that became internationally know last year after it led a series of cyberattacks against the database of the CIA, SONY, banks, and other corporations, as well as worked to track down and expose perpetrators of crimes, such as rape. The group has lost some popularity since last year, but their membership is still strong. Although its decentralized structure means that members do not always hold unified goas, the group acts on specific ideas mostly demanding a change in the world’s traditional models.
This time, the protesters who took part in this worldwide event were fighting against corruption within governments, including the more recent National Surveillance Agency (NSA) scandals.
Supporters of Anonymous, also known as Anons, have become renown around the world for wearing the masks of Guy Fawkes. The masks, which reached world fame with Alan Moore's movie V for Vendetta, also became synonyms of Anonymous and the Occupy movement and tokens representing the fight against tyranny. It was Anonymous who organized the "Million Mask March" around the world on this 5th of November, during which most participants wore the masks.
The Facebook page of the event called the event as a "call for Anonymous, Wikileaks, the Pirate Party, Occupy, and Oath Keepers to defend humanity. Remember who your enemies are: billionaires who own banks and corporations who corrupt politicians that then enslave people in injustice".
Protesters met in 450 major cities across the world, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Serbia, Belize, Switzerland, Brazil, Poland, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Nigeria.
Washington D.C. was the meeting point in the U.S.; participants met at the Washington Monument and walked in the direction of the White House, where a protester was arrested.
Despite the transnational feature of the protest, the epicenter of the movement was the city of London. The reason for this goes back to Guy Fawkes, a Catholic terrorist who was arrested by British authorities after he attempted (and failed) to blow up the House of Lords in London on the 5th of November of 1605. When asked why he had wanted to carry out such an action, Fawkes replied that it was "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains".
Following Fawkes' arrest, the 5th of November became a day to shame Catholic dissenters, but later on it became a celebration to in the name of Guy Fawkes and his figure as an anti-authoritarian hero.
The London participants gathered at Trafalgar Square to then march to parliament and meet with other Anonymous activists and supporters to demand more transparency from the government. More than anything, the protest was a cry for change. British comedian Russell Brand, who recently went viral in an interview with Jeremy Paxman in which he criticizes modern democracy and calls for a revolution, was spotted at the London Million Mask march.
The protests were peaceful, and that participants were urged by the organizers to refrain from using violence, favoring instead a protest without aggression. More than a protest, some considered it as a festival of ideas and discussion of political views.
Photo by Michael Tapp (cc).
