Is Anonymous a terrorist group

[Leftnt Sharpe]

No they are a paramilitary organisation, not a terrorist one. They do not use terror as a weapon, however they are a non-governmental organisation fighting on the digital battlefield.

That probably makes them sound more dangerous than they actually are, however it is a more accurate description.

 

[The King of Rock and Roll]

That's like asking if the Escapist is an intelligent website with a good userbase.

Spoiler

The answer is no.

 

[Awexsome]

While they are a lot of dicks in the ranks of anonymous (both figuratively and literally) and they've been known to participate in illegal activity... I wouldn't go so far as to put the label of "Terrorists" on them.

Annoying and stupid, at their worst blatantly illegal. But not at a terrorism level.

 

[Spark Ignition]

Yes. What ever their intentions, Anonymous use fear as a tactic. Their whole philosophy is 'if you do something we don't approve of, we will hurt you'.

However you may sympathise with their reasoning, that is terrorism. After all, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

EDIT: by the way, i use terrorism in it's literal dictionary definition here, aka someone who uses terror as a tactic. i IN NO WAY mean to imply that anonymous' actions are on the same league as mass murder.
However, DOS acttacks, distribution of child pornography and harrasment are all criminal offenses and anyone taking part in those should be prosecuted accordingly.

 

[Capcom4ever]

Nope, Anonymous is just legion looking for some good lulz and good times. They just also happen to
Overthrow North African governments:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/tunisia/all/1
Defend Free Speech:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)#WikiLeaks
And pick fights with old guys from 80's heavy metal bands:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104513-Gene-Simmons-Declares-War-on-Anonymous

Aaaaand they also spam pornography and make racist jokes. But yeah. It's all just for the lulz.

 

[norwegian-guy]

Not terrorists. They do not have a goal wich they try to reach by strategic attacks on civilan targets. They are vigilantes (not in a positive way). They do good things like report animal abuse and such. But they also do stuff like revenge on behalf of other members. But they are not terrorists in what defines a terrorist.

 

[The Rockerfly]

They create terror within people, people fear them and they fear each other
I would say that's the purpose of terrorism

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Anonymous is a bunch of idiots that protest for free speech while using their free speech to make death threats and spread fuckstupid idiocy.

They could be great if they didn't suck so much.

You say that as if they're one cohesive group. What you meant to say is:

"Parts of Anonymous are bunches of idiots that make death threats and spread fuckstupid idiocy."

I seriously doubt that the same people who did the good things also did the bad.

 

[Grimrider6]

They are no one and anyone who fears them is even lower then a sponge.

u mad, bro?

Nope. Trolling is an art. As you are trying to show with your lame attempt at getting some sort of emotion out of me.

does this mean u are not, in fact, mad at all, bro?

 

[ragestreet]

As a whole? Oh Emperor no.
Now certain people in it? I guess so.

 

[RedRussian]

Anonymous has always been, by it's very nature, difficult to pin down. More amorphous mass than actual group, there have been multiple acts attributed to the unnamed collective. From attacks on opponents of wikileaks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105954-Anonymous-Declares-Infowar-on-Wikileaks-Opponents] to the recent mailing of child pornography [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107078-4chan-Member-Gets-Jail-Time-For-Sending-Dirty-Pics-To-School]. Anonymous' actions are varied, fulfilling purposes both noble and nefarious, as well as down right weird. The fact does reamin though that the majority, if not the entirety of their actions were illegal, regardless of intention. And governments all over have started paying attention to the actions of this surprisingly organized group. Action has already been taken [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106549-FBI-Raids-Texas-Company-in-Hunt-for-Anonymous]

So tell me your opinion escapists, could anonymous be considered a terrorist organization? Are governments justified in pursuing the legion. Will they ever be successful?

No, just kids who don't know who guy fawkes really was, and think masks are cool.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

Anonymous has always been, by it's very nature, difficult to pin down. More amorphous mass than actual group, there have been multiple acts attributed to the unnamed collective. From attacks on opponents of wikileaks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105954-Anonymous-Declares-Infowar-on-Wikileaks-Opponents] to the recent mailing of child pornography [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107078-4chan-Member-Gets-Jail-Time-For-Sending-Dirty-Pics-To-School]. Anonymous' actions are varied, fulfilling purposes both noble and nefarious, as well as down right weird. The fact does reamin though that the majority, if not the entirety of their actions were illegal, regardless of intention. And governments all over have started paying attention to the actions of this surprisingly organized group. Action has already been taken [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106549-FBI-Raids-Texas-Company-in-Hunt-for-Anonymous]

So tell me your opinion escapists, could anonymous be considered a terrorist organization? Are governments justified in pursuing the legion. Will they ever be successful?

I love Anonymous, and not just because it gives me an excuse to wear fun masks and shout at people for their religious beliefs.

Anonymous is a terrible fucking thing. But, it is also the face of the Internet. Everyone in the world is a selfless, evil, world-saving, out-for-themselves, crazy sort of person. And anon reflects that. Sure, the legion does terrible things. But they also are a self-regulating mass of people behaving in the most purely human manner ever concieved. They harass and attack, but when something goes too far, it usually ends pretty quickly. When someone does something wrong, they are punished. Granted, what anon decides is wrong is pretty much a flavor of the week sort of deal, but then most of society is as well. Anon polices itself. Child pornography is punished with banning, or law enforcement involvement. If the internet were countries, we would call a ban EXILE or DEPORTMENT.
In fact, Anonymous is damn near the best realization of communism ever to exist (the Federation notwithstanding, as Star Trek is fictional. Don't try to argue that point. I will win). A self-sustaining unit of human beings coexisting together according to their own rules and a vaguely-shared ideal. That is pretty much a WHOLE DAMN NATION. Just add geography.

So yeah, anon, keep making your racist jokes and heartfelt charitable misadventures. You are neutral humanity laid bare, and I would not have that change for all the security and politeness in the world.

I expect you to hold up your end of internet.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Terrorism: The act of inspiring terror to achieve ones goals.

This is the simplified definition of course. But lets go through it.

Does Anon inspire TERROR? Fear? Are their mothers crying in the streets and children being taken out of school? No.

Bam, not terrorist.

And to those of you who seem to believe the GOAL is what defines a terrorist, try again. It is the method of achieving a goal. Someone could be using terrorism to get the government to build houses for the homeless and give more funding to the education system.

The GOAL does not make a terrorist, the METHOD does.

 

[Dusk17]

Anonymous are a group of cyber terrorists. It doesnt matter if they have not hurt anyone or if not all of them have done anything, they are still a group associated with cyber terrorism.

 

[Mr_Universal]

One thing people do that is wrong, is that they sometimes think 4chan = Anonymous. But from what I have been able to figure out, Anonymous does not support Child pornography, only the trolls on 4chan does, and note this, not everyone on 4chan are creeps, they are just random.
I would think of them as chaotic defenders of free-speech and the right to be anonymous on the internet. One thing I like about the REAL anonymous "members" (they don´t have members if I know them right, they have volunteers) is their opposition to for example the Westboro Baptist Church, which is a cult that promotes death of people, for example American soldiers in Irac, and for some stupid reason, us Swedes, as the will of god.

Feel free to correct me