Anonymous | Definition, History, Purpose, Mask, & Facts (2024)

Anonymous, decentralized international movement of digital activists known for generating high-profile cyberattacks against governments, companies, and other institutions. Participants in Anonymous and their supporters (“Anons”) sometimes identify themselves, both online and in person, using a style of Guy Fawkes mask worn by the anarchist protagonist of V for Vendetta, a graphic novel (1988) by Alan Moore, which was adapted into a film in 2006. Anonymous often ends its announcements with: “We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

Because Anonymous has no organizational hierarchy, it has no control over what actions may be committed in its name or who may be involved. New actions—commonly referred to as “operations”—are proposed in online communities, usually on encrypted instant-messaging applications, and carried out if there is enough support. There is also no standard by which actions committed in the movement’s name can be judged as legitimate, and, consequently, some operations are controversial among Anons themselves. Continuity of purpose exists only through Anons’ shared interests and sympathies, sometimes conceptualized by members and commentators as a “hive mind” or “global brain.” These interests broadly favour a libertarian-leftist perspective on freedom of speech and resistance against government oppression.

Anonymous originated on 4chan, an image-based Internet forum in which mostly male teenagers discussed and posted pictures of anime. In 2003 some of the site’s users began to meet in virtual chat rooms to coordinate the “trolling” (Internet slang for instigating conflict online) of other Internet communities, especially those of younger children. These users referred to themselves as “Anonymous” because that was the default username given to 4chan visitors. By the end of 2006 the group’s behaviour had escalated to harassing individuals it disliked, such as far-right radio host Hal Turner. Members of Anonymous, however, mostly regarded their actions—cyberbullying and hacking—not as politically motivated but as means of having fun.

In 2007 two events caused Anonymous to change its focus. First, an agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) approached Aubrey Cottle, a leading member of Anonymous, about working for Canadian law enforcement to disrupt the online spaces of terrorist groups. To Cottle, the CSIS had grossly overestimated his activities. The second event was the airing of a news report on Fox television station KTTV in Los Angeles, depicting Anonymous as dangerous domestic terrorists. The report included stock footage of an exploding van, suggesting that Anonymous was capable of real-life violence. This gross exaggeration of Anonymous’s activities amused members and inspired them to utilize the public perception of them to their advantage.

In 2008 Anonymous gained global attention with “Project Chanology,” a series of Anon-organized protest actions against the Church of Scientology. The events began when a video showing actor Tom Cruise discussing his belief in Scientology was posted to YouTube on January 14, 2008. The video was widely considered unflattering to Cruise and to the church, which had it removed from YouTube with a copyright violation claim. Charging the church with censorship of the Internet and a host of other abuses, Anonymous announced its campaign against the organization on January 21 via a new YouTube video called “Message to Scientology.” Anon members proceeded to harass the church’s operations by launching denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on its website (the most common of which comprises an attacker flooding a network server with traffic), linking the term Church of Scientology with “dangerous cult” on Google, and sending the church “black faxes” (faxes completely composed of black pages, meant to cause the receiving fax machine to run out of toner or shut down). The group also coordinated a number of in-person protests outside Scientology centres around the world.

After its anti-Scientology campaign, Anonymous largely abandoned trolling for hacktivism (that is, politically motivated hacking), and many other operations followed. Among the group’s targets since 2008 have been credit card companies, white supremacist organizations, child p*rnography sites, copyright protection agencies, and multiple governments. Causes that Anonymous has supported include WikiLeaks, Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring uprising, protests in Hong Kong, Black Lives Matter, the independence of Taiwan, and Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia. Tactics employed often included stealing and leaking sensitive data.

Both the efficacy and ethics of these efforts are heavily debated, but Anonymous’s global influence on hacker culture and its public perception is roundly recognized. Multiple books, films, and television shows have been based on the real or imagined activities of Anonymous and its splinter groups. At the height of the movement’s popularity in 2012, Time magazine declared it to be one of the “100 most influential people” in the world.