Anonymous Official

''This is Anonymou's Official YouTube channel, but most of the page will be detailed information about the group that we know about. Due to the group not having any official chain of command, it has several official YouTube Channels dedicated to it created by different people or factions; each of them will be listed at the bottom of this page. ''

Anonymous is a loosely associated international network of activists and hacktivist entities. A website normally associated with the group describes it as "an internet gathering" withi "a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives." The group became known as a series of well-publicized publicity stunts and distributed denial-of-service(DDoS) attacks on government, religous, and corporate websites.

Anonymous originated in 2003 on the imageboard 4Chan, representing the concept of many online and offline community users simultaneously existin gas an anarchic, digitized global brain. Anonymous members, (known as "Anons"), can be distinguished in public by the wearing of stylised Guy Fawkes Masks.

In its early form, the concept was adopted by a decentralized online community acting anonymously in a coordinated manner, usually toward a loosely self-agreed goal, and primarily focusing on entertainment, or "lulz." Beginning with 2008's Project Chanology--a series of protests, pranks, and hacks targeting the Church of Scientology--the Anonymous collective becoming increasingly associated with collaborative hacktivism on a number of issues internationally. Individuals claiming to align themselves with Anonymous undertook protests and other actions, (including direct action), in retaliation against anti-digital piracy campaigns by motion picture and recording industry trade associations. Later targets of Anonymous hacktivism included government agencies of the US, Israel, Tunisia, Uganda, and others; child pornograpbhy sites; copyright protection agencies; the Westboro Baptist Church; and corporations such as PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and Sony. Anons have publically supported WikiLeaks and the Occupy Movement. Related groups LulzSec and Operation AntiSec carried out cyberattacks on US Government agencies, media, video game companies, military contractors, military personnel, and police officers, resulting in the attention of law enforcement to the groups' activities. It has been described as being anti-Zionist, and has threatened to erase Israel from the Internet and engaged in the "#OpIsrael" cyber-attacks of Israeli websites on Yom HaShoah, (Holocaust Remembrance Day), in 2013.

Dozens of people have been arrested for involvement in Anonymous cyberattacks, in countries including the US, UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey. Evaluations of the group's actions and effectiveness vary widely. Supporters have called the group "freedom fighters" and "Digital Robin Hoods" while critics have described them as "a cyber lynch-mob" or "cyber terrorists." In 2012, Time called Anonymous one of the "100 Most Influential People" in the world.

Philosophy
Anonymous has no strictly defined philosophy, and internal dissent is a regular feature of the group. A website associated with teh group describes it as "an internet gathering" with "a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives." Gabriella Coleman writes off the group. "In some ways, it may be impossibel to gauge the intent and motive of thousand sof participants, many of who don't even bother to leave a trace of their thoughts, motivations, and reactions.  Among those that do, opinions vary considerably."

Broadly speaking, Anons oppose internet censorship and control, and the majority of their actions target governments, organizations, and corporations that they accuse of censorship. Anons were early supporters of the global Occupy Movement and the Arab Spring. Since 2008, a frequent subject of disagreement within Anonymous is whether members should focus on pranking and entertainment or more sious, (and in some cases political), activism.

"We [Anonymous] just happen to be a group of people on the internet who need—just kind of an outlet to do as we wish, that we wouldn't be able to do in regular society. ...That's more or less the point of it. Do as you wish. ... There's a common phrase: 'we are doing it for the lulz.'"

- Trent Peacock. Search Engine: The face of Anonymous, February 7, 2008

The group's few rules include not disclosing one's identity, not talking about the group, and not attacking media. Members commonly use the tagline "We are anonymous.  We are Legion.  We do not forgive.  We do not forget.  Expect us." Brian Kelly writes that the group's key characteristics are "(1) an unrelated moral stance on issues and rights, regardless of direct or provocation; (2) a physical presence taht accompanies online hacking activity; and (3) a distinctive brand." Because Anonymous has no leadership, no action can be attributed to the membership as a whole. Parmy Olson and others have criticized media coverage that Presents the group as well-organized or homogeneous; the Olson writes, "There was no single leader pulling the levers, but a few organizational minds that sometimes pooled together to start planning a stunt." Some members protest using legal means, while others employ illegal measures such as DDoS attacks and hacking. Membership is open to anyone who wishes to state they are a member of the collective; Carole Cadwaldr of The Observer compared the group's decentralized structure to that of Al Qaeda, writing, "If you believe Anonymous, and call yourself Anonymous, you are Anonymous." Olson, who formerly described Anonymous as a "brand," stated in 2012 that she now characterized it as a "movement" rather than a group:  "anyone can be part of it.  It is a crowd of people,a  nebulous crowed of people, working together and doing things together for various purposes.

Journalists have commented that Anonymous' secrecy, fabrications, and media awareness pose an unusual challenge for reporting on the group's actions and motivations. Quinn Norton of Wired writes that "Anons lie when they have no reason to lie.  They weave vast fabrications as a form of performance.  Then they tell the truth at unexpected and unfortunate tiems, sometimes destroying themselves in the process.  They are unpredictable." Norton states that the difficulties in reporting on the group cause most writers, including herself, to focus on the "small groups of hackers who stole the limelight from the legion, defined their values, and crashed violently into the law" rather than "Anonymous' sea of voices, all experimenting with new ways of being in the world.

History
See Also:  Timeline of Events Associated with Anonymous