We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists

The film was written and directed by Brian Knappenberger and features the story of Anonymous assumed to stem from the imageboard 4chan. It also outlines major turning points and "operations" in their history. Angered by many diverse issues such as copyright abuse, police brutality, online censorship and would-be web controllers this loosely affiliated collective of hacktivists have organised both online and offline protests, cyber attacks on foreign governments during the Arab Spring movement and provided technical support to the Occupy movement.

Let me say up front that I have serious reservations about hacking as political tactic. The members of Anonymous attack anyone they don't like, without reference to any set of political principles or the likelihood that their actions will change anything. Based on the film's interviews with Anonymous members, they're motivated as much by the thrill of the hack as by any serious political agenda. I also question the filmmaker's selection of some of their interview subjects. One guy from New York is apparently incapable of uttering a sentence without using "f***" or "f***ing" at least twice. Barrett Brown, a so-called spokesman for Anonymous, is so affected it sounds like he's working on a William F. Buckley impersonation while waving around his unlit cigarette. When these guys tell you they're changing the world, it's a bit difficult to believe. This isn't a bad documentary - it's well done technically and it's certainly informative. What it didn't do was change my mind about the legitimacy and important of Anonymous.

I was interested in Anonymous because they thrust themselves upon everyone's radar back in the early '10s. What they did was impressive like a huge bank robbery is impressive: you know it's wrong, but you're still impressed that someone could pull off such an ambitious and difficult crime.

"We Are Legion" is a backstory to the hacktivist group Anonymous. There are interviews with former members and people dialed into the culture about Anonymous's formation, their beliefs, and their tactics. I was intrigued and I'd even say I was even enjoying the documentary until one point of the film. It was then that I noticed a shift in the tone which turned me off.

One interviewee who'd been arrested for DDoSing (Distributed Denial of Service) the Scientology website got a one year prison sentence for using a LOIC (Low Orbit Ionic Cannon) tool on Scientology. He said he received one of "the most lopsided punishments I'd ever read or heard of." It was then that I had two thoughts:

1.) You need to read more.

2.) You guys have lost all credibility.

It was then that I noticed that the documentary was morphing into this self-righteous gripe about unjust persecution and these far-fetched comparisons to the lunch counter sit-ins of the '60's and other Civil Rights activities. They lost me with that. I would've had far more respect for them if they simply said they were anarchists.

"We Are Legion" was good for informational purposes even if it was terrible at helping Anonymous gain sympathy (which is what it seemed to be doing). It's worth watching and then you can decide for yourself if Anonymous is a net good.

We Are Legion can draw us into the discussion, not by sympathizing with those who willfully (if somewhat ignorantly) break the law, but by showing both sides of the story that our daily news accounts often skew in one direction.Sure it's funny-and we might even think it's right-what Anonymous could do with a button click. But being on the flipside, we wouldn't want to be one of their victims, even as a casual observer, merely by showing an opposing point of view. In that regard, We Are Legion would effectively create a great double feature with God Bless America from Bobcat Goldthwait, where a couple of killers are debating those acceptable to take a bullet for a country's cause drowned in a absence of civility.Knappenberger's film is fast-moving and informative; it will likely never take a look at it with their one-track minds to ensure a subsection of our culture. Although they should just learn a little bit more about a group waiting out there to teach you a little lesson about liberty of expression.

Not surprisingly, "We are Legion" was extremely well received at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. This film sheds a great deal of light on the murky and confusing world of the hacker group Anonymous. The filmmakers were able to achieve incredible access to the group and tell the historical story mostly through interviews with participants. The film is essentially chronological so it tells their story so that people who haven't followed its development can gain some understanding of a very complicated and somewhat confusing organization. The film is done in a self-critical fashion that while generally favorable is not afraid to show the group's negatives, its conflicts and its internal struggles. It is extremely well-made and highly informative. The groups' almost accidental evolution from merry pranksters into some sort of political activists is fascinating. While they are clearly inspired by commitment to free speech – especially online – it is hard to clearly define their evolving ideology. They are clearly interconnected to emerging phenomenon such as the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, but it is difficult to determine how significant their political impact has been in these events. In any case, "We are Legion" provides an opportunity to those of us outside these organizations to gain some insight into what they are doing and that is extremely valuable. I hope that this film is widely viewed since it provides a view of one of the new political frontiers of the internet.