Hacktivism in the 21st century
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At any given point in civilization there is dissent. Ever since the first societies were created all through roman civilisation and the modern age of technological civilization dissent has been a primary driving force of change, innovation and adaptation. In the past dissent has taken forms such as assasinations, riots, peacefull marches, sit ins, etc. and many of these styles continue through till today.
However when living in a technological society as we do now it is important that the form of dissent change and adapt to the means of production and media of the society that it is seeking to challenge. In these times that is Hacktivism.
According to wikipedia, "Hacktivism (a portmanteau of hack and activism) is often understood as the writing of code, or otherwise manipulating bits, to promote political ideology - promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. The term was coined by author/culture critic Jason Sack in an article about media artist Shu Lea Cheang. The article was published in InfoNation in 1995. Acts of hacktivism are carried out in the belief that proper use of code will have leveraged effects similar to regular activism or civil disobedience. Fewer people can write code, but code affects more people."
Hacktivism is a neccesary part of the repitore of tactics for any iconoclast, because if you are trying to change a culture which is primarily digital you must change it through digital means. Sites such as hackbloc.org hacktivimso.com and hactvist.com are big hubs in the hactivist world.
Hacktivism can encompass a wide variety of tactics and issues. Writing Software such as Hacktivismo's torpark software which is a portable tor distribution to increase anonymity on the net for activists. Hack This Zine, published by the HackBloc collective which serves as a communique and outlet for some of the latest hacktivist tactics. To more artistic projects like recode.com which allowed people to print out there own barcodes for products effectively changing the price that they would payics. To more artistic projects like recode.com which allowed people to print out there own barcodes for products effectively changing the price that they would pay. Also some times hacktivism can accompany more basic tactics stuch as Denial of Service Attacks and Web Defacements. It could also relate to something like anti-spam activists and the open source movement.
Hacktivism has often been maligned and denied as an effective protest or direct action tactic. But we live in a technological society, and any change must come about through technology.