State-Aiding, Empire-Building or Multitude Fulfilling? An Anonymous Role in International Politics

Abstract

GhostSec is out there, fighting. The Anonymous cell is hack-attacking politically

violent Islamic groups, including Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and the Islamic State

(IS). GhostSec is intent upon exposing extremist twitter accounts and taking

down their web face presence. The goal seems to be to prevent the "bad guys"

from using cybertools to perpetuate their violence in Somalia, Nigeria, Libya and

Syria. As such, GhostSec is a humanitarian cause that prevents the

territorialization of cyberspace by those groups who are against the liberal

ideology of freedom of the individual. It is a noble cause, a cyber battle, almost

mythic. Is it so simple, though--good vs. bad? And what is the desired outcome?

This article will explore the role of GhostSec in international politics, specifically

examining whether the Anonymous group is State-Aiding, Empire-Building or

Multitude-Fulfilling (Hardt and Negri 2000). Even though the trickster lulz

Anonymous may jump out and raspberry the world while it "takes down" a

terrorist group's web body, it still must consider the socio-political forces vying

for the power that it generates. Who benefits from its antics, who loses?