Justice

Anonymous' Latest Target Is Extremely Surprising

April 29th 2016

A group of hacker-activists who recently launched attacks against the Ku Klux Klan turned their attention to a surprising target on Thursday. Members of Ghost Squad, an affiliate of Anonymous, took down a Black Lives Matter website — a move that appears to contradict the group's social justice stance, Mic reports.

anonymous-maskFlickr/Pierre (Rennes) - flic.kr

In the past, hackers who claim to represent Anonymous have shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement, helping to identify police officers accused of brutality against Black people, for example. But in a Facebook post on Thursday, a Ghost Squad member described BLM as a "hate group," sharing a photo of an error message on blacklivesmatter.com, which was reportedly hacked by the group.

AnonymousFacebook/s1ege - facebook.com

Anonymous lacks central authority, and not all members support to the group's social justice agenda.

Reporting on Anonymous can be challenging because, as members have repeatedly emphasized, the group lacks central authority. Splinter cells of Anonymous, including Ghost Squad, are functionally autonomous — so it's not all that surprising that the group appears to have undermined Anonymous' racial justice mission.

What is surprising, however, is that Ghost Squad reportedly hacked websites affiliated with the KKK and Black Lives Matter in the same week. Calling the KKK's views "monolithic and evil" while simultaneously accusing Black Lives Matter of being a "hate group" seems paradoxical to say the least.

In a private chat with Mic reporter Jack Smith IV, Ghost Squad founder Sc0rp10n Gh0s7 said that "Black Lives Matter is moving against anonymous members and we don't like that." The founder declined to expand on the way Black Lives Matter was "moving against" the group, but said there are currently no plans to launch further attacks.

As of press time, the website for Black Lives Matter remains down, with a note saying "[w]e’re making a few updates and we’ll be back shortly."

[h/t Mic]

RELATED: Anonymous Attacks the KKK

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