Hacktivism and legal considerations: digital anarchists or freedom fighters?

Marcin Kowalczyk

Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie


Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the legal regulation of hacktivism - digital forms of civil disobedience. The article characterises the most important groups of hacktivists, indicating their methods of online activities. It also discusses European Community legislation relating to cybercrime and the possible criminalisation of hacktivist activities. The article concludes with a description of the activities of the Anonymous group, actively supporting cyber warfare against Russia during the war in Ukraine, and a discussion regarding the justification of these activities in light of current legal norms and the assumptions pertaining cyber warfare.


Keywords:

cybercrime law, hacktivism, online civil disobedience, Anonymous, cyberwar, cybercrime, war in Ukraine


Anonymous włamali się do monitoringu Kremla. „Nie powstrzymacie nas. Jesteśmy w środku”, Polska Agencja Prasowa, 07.04.2022.   Google Scholar

Atak hakerski w Moskwie. Anonymous spowodował ogromny korek, Polska Agencja Prasowa, 02.09.2022.   Google Scholar

Auty C., Political hacktivism: Tool of the underdog or scourge of cyberspace?, „Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives” 2004, vol. 56 (4).   Google Scholar

Blankenship L., The Hackers Manifesto – Hacker Text, [w:] The Hackers Manifesto By The Mentor – Hacker Text, darknet.org.uk, September 4, 2017.   Google Scholar

Chandler A., The changing definition and image of hackers in popular discourse, „International Journal of the Sociology of Law” 24, 1996.   Google Scholar

Delmas C., Is Hacktivism the New Civil Disobedience? „Raisons politiques” 2018/1 (N° 69).   Google Scholar

Greenberg A., It’s Been 20 Years Since This Man Declared Cyberspace Independence, „Wired”, Feb. 8, 2016.   Google Scholar

Harris Combs B., From Selma to Montgomery. The Long March to Freedom, Routledge, New York 2013.   Google Scholar

Hivemind, macmillan dictionary.   Google Scholar

Jones K., Nurse J. R. C., Li S., Out of the Shadows: Analyzing Anonymous’ Twitter Resurgence during the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests, „Proceedings of the Sixteenth International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media” (ICWSM 2022).   Google Scholar

Jordan T., Activism! Direct action, hacktivism and the future of society, Reaktion Books, London, 2002.   Google Scholar

Jordan T., Paul T., Hacktivism and cyberwars: Rebels with a cause? Routledge, London, 2004.   Google Scholar

Karagianopoulos V., Living with hacktivism: From conflict to symbiosis, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018.   Google Scholar

Konzack L., The Guy Fawkes Mask as Visual Communication of the Internet Group Anonymous, „International Journal of Internet Trolling and Online Participation”, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2015.   Google Scholar

Milmo D., Anonymous: the hacker collective that has declared cyberwar on Russia, „The Guardian”, 27 Feb 2022.   Google Scholar

Olson P., We Are Anonymous, William Heinemann, 2013.   Google Scholar

Pawlicka A., Choraś M., Pawlicki M., The stray sheep of cyberspace a.k.a. the actors who claim they break the law for the greater good, „Personal and Ubiquitous Computing”, volume 25, 2021.   Google Scholar

Rosa Parks, „History”, Jan 19, 2022.   Google Scholar

Samuel A., Hacktivism and the Future of Political Participation, Harvard University, 2004.   Google Scholar

Sauter M., ”LOIC will tear us apart”: The impact of tool design and media portrayals in the success of activist DDOS attacks. „American Behavioral Scientist” 57 (7), 2013.   Google Scholar

Svydrenko D., Możgin W., Hacktivism of the Anonymous Group as a Fighting Tool in the Context of Russia’s War against Ukraine, „Future Human Image”, Volume 17, 2022.   Google Scholar

Taylor P., From hackers to hacktivists: Speed bumps on the global superhighway? „New Media & Society” 7 (5), 2005.   Google Scholar

The Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the Russian government, @YourAnonOne, 24.02.2022.   Google Scholar

The Hacktivismo Declaration, July 4th, 2001.   Google Scholar

Uitermark J., Complex Contention: Analyzing Power Dynamics Within Anonymous. „Social Movement Studies”, 16(4), 2017.   Google Scholar

Ukraińskie media: grupa Anonymous zhakowała rosyjskie państwowe kanały telewizyjne, Polska Agencja Prasowa, 06.03.2022.   Google Scholar

J. Worona, Cyberspace in international law, Wydział Prawa i Administracji, Uniwersytet w Białymstoku, Białystok, 2017.   Google Scholar

Wray S., On Electronic Civil Disobedience, „Peace Review”, Vol. 11, 1999.   Google Scholar


Published
2023-03-17

Cited by

Kowalczyk, M. (2023). Hacktivism and legal considerations: digital anarchists or freedom fighters?. Studia Prawnoustrojowe, (59). https://doi.org/10.31648/sp.8252

Marcin Kowalczyk 
Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie