The Electric Reporter Digital Activism - German documentary on Anonymous

subtitles and translated transkript by Anonymous

Transcript:

In the nineties, dear viewers at home at the receivers or wherever you are currently watching us, in the nineties of the last century the internet was viewed as an own, self-contained cyberworld, which had fairly little to do with the so called real world.

In truth however, the world of carbon is tightly knit with the world of hypertext. This is visible, not exclusively, but in particular, in the wide field of political activism, in activities, which begin in the net, but then even take people to the streets.

Berlin in autumn: Some dozens masked people set out for Charlottenburg.
"We are protesting against the Scientology enterprise."
Worldwide several protest activties against the sect take place today.
As peculiar the Scientology opponents appear, who call themselves "Anonymous", as unusual is the movement's history of origins.

"The internet is the root of Anonymous, this is where we come from and this is our basis."
Everything begins with an internal Scientology promotional video, which finds its way into the Internet.
The actor and Scientologist, Tom Cruise, talks therein very openly about his worldview.

Lawyers of the psycho-cult try to remove the video from the net by legal measures. Without avail.
Multiple copies have already been spread.
By this act, that many net inhabitants consider as censorship, Scientology antagonizes an adversary from an entirely unexpected direction.

The imageboard community 4chan, known for its at times crude humour, sees the sect's request as an attack on free expression and free speech in the net and on the spot declares war on Scientology.

It doesn't remain by words. In the next days attacks follow against the sect's internetserver. Allegedly hundreds of threatening phone calls and faxes hit Scientology. At least, that's what the sect claims in an almost hollywood like countervideo.

In this netwar of videos also longtime critics of Scientology pipe up, like the filmmaker Mark Bunker. He sounds a note of caution and considerateness to Anonymous.
It may sound like fun and games, but Scientology is srs business.
A swarm of unpolitical internet trolls has finally evolved into a serious protest movement, that however keeps its form of organization, which was born in the net.

"What makes it special is probably that it's completely free of hierarchy."
A circumstance, which the sect finds difficult.
Proven strategies of intimidation don't work anymore with an hierarchy-free network.
"And then there is of course the concept Anonymous. There is no head, which could be separated. There is no leader, who could be tracked and identificated. Everyone can be a head. That's crucial.

Although Scientology sympathisants out the identities of individual Anonymous members on Yotube, the worldwide protests don't slow down.
"When you have a decentralized movement that starts putting pressure on a centralized organization, usually what happens is that the centralized organization reacts very strongly."

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• scientology
• anonymous
• Electric
• Reporter
• Digital
• Activism
• German
• documentary

[11Jamie11]

rock on and on anon