History
Anonymous started on a message board called 4chan. 4chan was a place where people could discuss anything, from anime to paranormal activities. The thing that was different about 4chan was that almost every post was made anonymously. No one had to own up to their comments. Eventually it grew into a giant joke, Anonymous was the hive mind of the internet. Saying what everyone thought, no matter how controversial it was. 4chan existed in relative obscurity for years, every so often a joke or two would escape. Such as the now famous lolcats, rick rolling and keyboard cat. Most of these came from the random board, known as /b/. They were just jokes, most of them idiotic, none of them serious. That changed on January 15th 2008.
A video had just been uploaded a few days before. It featured Tom Cruise talking about Scientology, he ranted about how they were the only ones who could help anyone. It gave 4chan laughs (or lulz), until it got taken off YouTube. That’s when Anonymous got angry. Some began looking at Scientology’s website. The idea was to do the same thing they have always done. Take down the website, put up some offensive image, sit back and enjoy the angry scientologists. Then something happened. One of the Anonymous members posted a message. “It’s think it’s time for /b/ to do something big.” An Anonymous member posted a video on YouTube declaring, in a robotic voice, war on Scientology. It talked of the accusations that the Church tears family apart and Not everyone was behind it, “good luck with this fail” said one Anon. “I’m a scientologists. WTF /b/, don’t mess with us, okay?” said another. However, it was too late. Anonymous was changing direction. The hive mind had begun working with Scientology critics. Slowly but surely a movement began to form. Anonymous was stepping off the internet and onto the streets.
On February 10th, 2008, thousands of Anonymous members took to the streets worldwide. For many this was a complete shock. This was the first time that they had actually followed through on their promise. For many, scientologists, this came out of the blue. They woke up to find hundreds of masked men and women standing in the street. After everyone packed up and left, Scientology managed to film several members faces and get names. Scientology released their own video on YouTube claiming Anonymous was a terrorist organization and a hate group guided by Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto. Anonymous was prepared to laugh it off and move on. They’ve had they’re fun and the joke was over. Some planned to get together again, most didn’t. Then Scientology released a second video. They released the names, pictures, home addresses and IPs of who they said were Anonymous leaders. Anonymous dropped everything, Scientology had just broken the two largest rules. Don’t reveal names unless you’re revealing your own and more importantly to them, Anonymous has no leaders. As their motto goes: Anonymous is no one’s personal army. They realized that they were in it for the long haul.
Every month since that February, there has been a protest in every major city. Most Anonymous members realize they have to start telling people about their secret club if they want to get things done. Several were arrested and a group was even beaten by security guards near the Scientology HQs in California. Anonymous and Scientology critics claim that they have put a huge dent in Scientology. Scientology says that they’re numbers have never been higher. Anonymous now claims they won’t give up until the people in charge get what’s coming to them.
Members:
Due to the secretive nature of Anonymous it’s hard to know exactly who the members are. However most of the members are between the ages of 16 and 26. Other then that there are few connections between members.
Organization:
Anonymous bases it’s decisions through consensus. They have no leader, however there are many members who are well respected. These are usually people who have been with the protests the longest. Also several non Anonymous members are held in high regard, most notably Mark Bunker, an critic of Scientology.
Video:
The "Declaration of War" video.
First protest in London.
Photos:
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