Screening: We Are Legion – The Story of the Hacktivists + Q&A

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Brian Knappenberger

We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists explores the historical roots of early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, and tells the story of how they evolved into groups such as Anonymous. Director Brian Knappenberger traces the birth of a powerful democratic online activism which in these rapidly changing times is beginning to make corporations and governments very nervous.

Knappenberger takes us inside the world of Anonymous, the “hacktivist” collective with no defined leadership or structure that has taken responsibility for numerous acts of a new internet-based civil disobedience. In a time when a number of the group’s most prominent activists face long prison sentences, Knappenberger tells their stories and explores the precedents these trials might set for the future.

In the course of the film we hear from a group that began as a forum to share jokes, we learn about the development of their ideology and their ability to mobilize thousands worldwide. Through interviews with current members and those awaiting trial, as well as with other major online figures, writers and academics, we gain an understanding of their motives and what it means to be involved with groups defining online activism.

Directed by Brian Knappenberger

Duration: 89 mins

Year: 2012