Thoughts on Hacktivism Post-Y2K
Thoughts on Hacktivism Post Y2K by Jesse Hirsh
This pamphlet was published by TAO (“The Anarchy Organization”) in Toronto, Canada, in January 2000. In it, author Jesse Hirsh argues that Y2K as a spectacle event was a symptom of the sense of mystical confusion and awe much of the public feels when interacting with the Internet. Because the average person doesn’t understand the inner workings of the networks and technologies they use, the Internet exists to them as a product they can interact with but not understand. Hirsh argues this is intentionally done by corporations to alienate users and retain their power over the Internet as a social tool. Hackers complicate this corporate power. Hacks both destabilise public trust in corporations' ability to preserve their data online, and increase public interest in the inner workings of networks and computers. Hackers have thus become key figures in imagining the Internet as a site where corporate and government control is exerted, but also as a site for social change.
