Last week, a protest against the development of a shopping centre complex in Gezi Park, Istanbul, originally started as a peaceful, ecological demonstration but mutated into a brutal confrontation between Turkey’s liberal classes and the nation’s increasingly authoritarian government. The ensuing social media blackout across Turkey was frequently interrupted with images of bloodied protestors humiliated by inappropriate uses of power by Turkey’s police force as huge national protests rose up in support of the demonstrators in Istanbul.
In the midst of this hopelessly complex situation, the elusive hacker group Anonymous has reared its head. Turkish governmental websites have been shut down, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s emails have been dumped on the internet in a display of international solidarity with the brutalised Turkish protestors.
Indeed, I have absolutely no problem with public protest. It is a necessarily outlet for frustration and I wish there was more support for political expression globally. Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel cynical about Anonymous’ involvement.
For those who do not know, Anonymous is a group of computer hackers who use cybernetic methods to interfere with structures of power and anything else that they deem to be ‘unjust’ in the world. They have historically targeted the Scientologist movement, Israel, Westboro Baptist Church, Sony, Visa and various child pornography organisations. However, what concerns me about a group like Anonymous is that even though they have the power to attack governments and multi-national corporations, they, just like their plutocratic enemies, are not accountable to anybody.
As someone on the left of politics, I feel there are many reactionary lefties who just support Anonymous, and other similar groups, because they ‘stick it to the man’ and take down people whom the public supposedly dislike. But I feel there is a greater responsibility to those of us who believe in justice, and think that governments, politicians and corporations should all be held accountable to the public. Moreover, getting lost in short term point scoring is often counter-intuitive, and we must realise the difference between ‘sticking it to the man’ and vigilante justice.
The protesters in Turkey were having a hard time, and they needed international help and support. Their government was not listening to them, and the police authoritarianism was not appropriate for a country that claims to be democratic. But has Anonymous’ intervention really helped? We cannot forget that as much as we may want to see authoritarian governments replaced by more transparent and less corrupt alternatives, this is not a reason to let groups like Anonymous drag society into anarchy.
All successful demonstrations and revolutions – in so far as they can be considered as such – usually succeed when the police and the army decide they would rather submit to the will of the people than continue to implement greater force on the oppressed. To me, Anonymous’ attempt to destabilise the establishment does not help with this aim and if institutions like the police feel threatened, they are less likely to believe that the people will act responsibly once they take control of the country, and therefore are less likely to submit to them.
My other main issue is that, as far as one can tell, Anonymous does not seem to have any set political agenda. Of course, this is to be expected of a group that does not have any central leadership, but it is also rather worrying. It is hard to really understand what they stand for. We should understand straight anyway that this group possess a morality almost as shady as their opponents, and I do not believe that my enemy’s enemy is my friend, especially if they do not seem like an ally that we can rely on.
The Turkish protesters will not be helped by Anonymous’ intervention in achieving their goals in the long run; it will only further infuriate the megalomaniac in charge of Turkey, and lead to more authoritarianism. We must ask ourselves, in a world where public anger against elites is increasing all the time, is this shady organisation really the answer to our prayers?