Are Internet Activists the Ultimate Paper Tigers?
I recently received an email from my aunt, who works for the International Rescue Committee. She’s in the Sudan, helping people as she’s done for years now. Her work, and the work of people like her, who are willing to place themselves in harm’s way to educate and ameliorate, stands in stark contrast to the growing hacktivist movements. While the attempt, for instance, to ID Iranian paramilitary forces, may provide some support to protesters in Iran, I’m starting to wonder how much real change can be effected via purely digital means. As a society, we’ve fetishized hackers, but when you examine the Iranian manifestations for Hackers Without Borders, it’s remarkably weak. A group like HWB draws its name from MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, but suffers in comparison. It’s time hacktivist action lives up to hacktivist rhetoric, or it’s time that we acknowledge that a socially aware hacker needs to turn off the computer and travel to sub-Saharan Africa if they really want credibility.