Should Elon Musk fear the Anonymous of social media?

"Greetings, citizens of the world.This is a message from Anonymous for Elon Musk. "On June 5, 2021, the Youtube Anonymous channel published a dependent video against the billionaire.Pell-mell, an individual facing the camera attacks the South African entrepreneur on the working conditions of the employees of his societies (Tesla and Space X), his attitude on social networks or his positions on Bitcoin.“Your tweets this week expose a real disdain for the average worker: people who work hard see their dreams liquefied by your public anger.You continue to mock them with your memes from one of your houses in several million dollars, "he says.

The hooded individual concludes the video with a half -word threat: "You think you are the smartest person, but you have now met a major opponent.We are anonymous, we are legion!Expect our action.»»

Since then, several very followed accounts such as @youranoncentral (6 million subscribers on Twitter) or the Facebook page anonews.co (11 million subscribers) regularly relay the video ... and call to subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Usually anonymous claims to hack a network or the publication of confidential data before possibly sharing his motivations.This was for example the case last year during the leak of the Minneapolis police data.Upline following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, she was then claimed on video.We then speak of hacktivism, here to support the Black Lives Matter movement.But this time, Anonymous does - at least for the moment - only organizing a communication campaign against the billionaire.And his vague threats do not seem to have been carried out.

Anonymous, a movement rather than an organization

"Cringy", "annoying", "ridiculous", in the cybersecurity world, the video is mocked when it is not just ignored.It must be said that its staging draws to the end of the string of hackers stereotypes.

As soon as it appeared in the early 2000s, the movement made Guy Fawkes mask, highlighted by the film V for Vendetta, its symbol.But today, Anonymous's social media version goes much further in the commonplace: hooded sweatshirt, tank voice to be more serious, green letters on a black background to evoke matrix and the computer code ... These codes maintain the placeMovement in the collective imagination, but they do not serve its credibility.

"Any person who wants to create a video in the name of Anonymous can do it," said anthropologist Gabriella Coleman, a specialist in the subject last year.And for good reason: at its origin, Anonymous is not an organization, it is a decentralized movement, without hierarchy.A heterogeneous, punctual gathering, to defend social causes like Occupy Wall Street or Black Lives Matter ... It is a name and symbols that independent hackers can attach to their shots to refer to certain values such as freedom of'Internet or the fight against abuse of power of the richest.The movement has, in principle, no representative, and one cannot assess its workforce.

Is the anonymous of social networks the real anonymous?

Problem: this design of Anonymous seems incompatible with its presence on social networks.For example, the Anonymous YouTube channel is certified by the platform, like that of any official organization could be.To obtain the precious blue badge, you must have 100,000 subscribers and "be authentic", that is to say that the chain must prove that it represents the entity it claims to be.In other words, YouTube has formalized chain administrators as a spokesperson for the movement.

What legitimacy have the administrators of the YouTube channel to officially represent a decentralized movement?// Source: Numerama screenshot.

People who hold the channel refer to the Facebook page anonews.co, and Youranoncentral regularly relay their content.These accounts have created a real brand, with a logo, a slogan ("we are legion") or even signature sentences."Greetings citizens of the world" is their version of the sentence of hooking for any known videographer of the platform, like "Yo everyone is Squeezie".

The "branding" of the chain goes even further.The videos use a construction that will remind some of the Best of video games: an intro with thunder noises, and an animation to bring the logo dramaticly;Epic music and an apparent logo all along to accompany the discourse, and an outro with the scrolling of all social networks and anonymous brands.

The anonymous certified Facebook page has everything of a classic brand page.// Source: Numerama screenshot

On the Facebook page-also certified-, the “representatives” of the movement mainly publish comic strip pages or anti-system memes.There is an anti-media discourse, a criticism of the rich or even inspiring quotes on the power of united people for the same cause.This tailor -made content for the social network is interspersed with some information on the shine of the movement, and relay of press articles on the overflows of the police or very followed business, such as the death of Jeffrey Epstein.

And Elon Musk in all of this?

You will understand, the authors of the video are above all communicators.In other words, it is not the person in front of the camera who will hack confidential documents on Elon Musk.In reality, their video works rather as a call to attack Musk and his societies.Will it be followed?The "Anonymous" brand is very present in the collective imagination, and the message was massively relayed.

But after this first question, others immediately ask themselves: will sufficiently competent people seek to attack the billionaire?What will they seek to dig up on it, knowing that the smallest actions of the South African are already scrutinized with a magnifying glass?

In Elon Musk's Internet