TV Maven: Internet's "Anonymous" Puts Scientology and Tom Cruise on Notice

They took their marching orders directly from videos posted on the Internet by the entity known only as amp8220Anonymousamp8221 and did exactly what amp8220heamp8221 asked On Sunday February 10 young people around the world protested against the Church of Scientology and proved once again the power of the Webamp8212 to share information inspire action and stir up controversy An estimated 10000 protestersamp8212most of whom it seems were high school and collegeage malesamp8212carried out wellorganized carefully choreographed simultaneous demonstrations at more than 250 Scientology properties in 14 countriesEach amp8220raidamp8221 as itamp8217s dubbed in Internet parlance was part of a global effort to put the highly secretive church on notice not for its religious practices the protesters made clear but for financial squeezes on members attacks on psychiatry and other forms of mainstream mental health treatment and heavyhanded ways with the media critics and those who want to leave or have left the churchThis twominute video by amp8220Anonymousamp8221 ignited the Internetbased criticism of Scientology three weeks ago amp8220Over the years we have been watching youamp8221 said an electronically enhanced manamp8217s voice over images of clouds amp8220Your campaigns of misinformation suppression of dissent your litigious nature all of these things have caught our eye With the leakage of your latest propaganda video into mainstream circulation the extent of your malign influence over those who trust you who call you leader has been made clear to us Anonymous has therefore decided that your organization should be destroyed For the good of your followers for the good of mankindamp8230amp8221Organized completely through the Internet Anonymous has no set hierarchy and yet it has a leader who so far no one has identified The amp8220Anonamp8221 movement has drawn thousands of bright young computer users away from their online games IMs and Facebook addictions and mobilized them into a large but loosely bound army of resourceful cyberactivists who are bold enough to challenge a powerful tightly controlled and famously litigious organizationThat first Anonymous message which has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube appeared to be a response to a public misstep by the very private church In January an inhouse promotional video for the church was leaked to the Internet On it Tom Cruise Scientologyamp8217s marquee member giddily spews streams of Scientologisms about amp8220KSWamp8221 Keep Scientology Working and amp8220SPamp8217samp8221 suppressive persons enemies of the church amp8220We are the authorities on getting people off drugs we are the authorities on the mind we can rehabilitate criminalsamp8221 Cruise says in the video backed up by a loop of the Mission Impossible theme amp8220We can bring peace and unite culturesamp8221 The church tried to claim copyright infringement to get the Cruise video pulled from YouTube Gawkercom and other sites But Gawkeramp8217s Nick Dentonamp8212boss at the daily online blast of media and showbizOnly at JackMyerscom Ed Martin39s TV BuzzPrimetime Ratings Will Increase Thanks to the Strikegossiprefused to back down and kept the video posted claiming amp8220fair useamp8221 The Gawker page featuring the Cruise video and Dentonamp8217s nosethumbing reply to the churchamp8217s legal threat drew more than 23 million views according to The New York Timesamp8212a new record for the siteConveniently timed with the release of Andrew Mortonamp8217s unauthorized biography of Cruise more Scientology clips began leaking onto the Web The threehour amp82202007 OT Summitamp8221 ceremony emceed by church leader David Miscavige at Scientologyamp8217s headquarters in Clearwater Florida appeared on YouTube in 10minute segments Most of it is a mindnumbing salespitch by Miscavige telling all existing church members to repurchase every one of Hubbardamp8217s more than 50 books which have been reedited and republished in amp8220more accurateamp8221 new editionsTwo more videos popped up from Anonymous giving vague descriptions of who is behind the messages amp8220We have no leaders no single entity directing usamp8221 the voice said in the third installment amp8220Only the collective outrage of individuals guiding our hand in the current efforts to bring awareness We want you to be aware of the very real dangers of Scientologyamp8221Through YouTube Internet Relay Chats and sites such as 4Chanorg word spread quickly about Anonymousamp8217 dramatic trilogy on YouTube and about the Feb 10 protest The very term amp8220Anonymousamp8221 began to be used to define anyone willing to publicly criticize Scientology With a sort of amp8220I am Spartacusamp8221 momentum video replies and message boards buzzed with support for Anonymous and spread a list of rules for the Feb 10 event No profanity no violence nothing illegal Protesters were encouraged to dress in black and wear Guy Fawkes masks inspired by the film V for Vendetta Disguises were urged both as protection against surveillance by the church and as a statement of unityThe date of the mass civil action commemorated the birthday of Lisa McPherson who joined Scientology in Dallas Texas She tried unsuccessfully to leave the church and ended up dead under mysterious circumstances in a churchowned hotel and under the care of church handlers near their headquarters in Clearwater This eerie video details the McPherson caseStarting at precisely 11 am local time last Sunday protesters took their places outside Scientology centers around the world waving signs that said amp8220Religion is freeamp8221 and amp8220Scientology killsamp8221 They passed out fliers chanted slogans and spoke politely to media covering the eventMore than 250 marched in both Sydney and Adelaide Hundreds showed up at the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles and at a branch in West Hollywood Dozens braved subzero temperatures to protest in Chicago Milwaukee Detroit and Toronto More demonstrators gathered outside centers in Boston New York London and Edinburgh A lone man held a sign at the churchamp8217s location in TokyoMore than 70 protesters lined a wall across from the pink brick Celebrity Centre in an upscale residential neighborhood in Dallas Sweating in their masks and hoods in 80degree sunshine they ranged in age from 16 to early 30s and were for the most part wellspoken and thoughtful To a one they said they were moved to research the beliefs and practices of Scientology by the three Anonymous videos on YouTube and by the footage of a wildeyed Cruise espousing his loyalty to the church The protesters said they had read about the McPherson case and had explored Web sites of church critics such as exScientologist Tory Christman aka amp8220Magooamp8221 Emmywinning journalist Mark Bunker Xenutvcom and Andreas HeldalLund founder of Xenunet which has published online most of Scientologyamp8217s amp8220secretamp8221 documents under the title amp8220Operation Clambakeamp8221With police watching from squad cars parked in front of the Dallas center along with one security guard a selfconfessed Methodist hired by the church nobody interacted directly with the few Scientologists who could be seen maintaining constant camera surveillance on the protesters from some bushes on church propertyThe Dallas protestamp160 was organized by a 16yearold highschooler who identified himself as amp8220ProBoamp8221 He emphasized again that itamp8217s the churchamp8217s greed thatamp8217s under fire not its religious beliefs Scientologists must pay to take the instructional courses and do the personal amp8220auditingamp8221 required to learn its practices and doctrines amp8220Weamp8217d like to see a government investigation into how Scientology keeps its taxexempt statusamp8221 said ProBo The church founded in 1954 by scifi author L Ron Hubbard was granted taxexempt status in 1993 after a long battle with the IRS For 25 years the tax agency had maintained that Scientology was a business and not a religionAsked for comment about the worldwide demonstrations two Scientologists outside the Dallas Celeb Centre who wouldnamp8217t identify themselves but asked this writer for ID referred all inquiries to a PR person in Austin They handed out copies of a twopage press release the same one given media at every other protest site declaring that Anonymous is a group of amp8220cyberterrorists who hide their identities behind masks and computer anonymityamp8221 and are amp8220perpetrating religious hatecrimesamp8230for no reason other than religious bigotryamp8221The kids at the Dallas protest last Sunday didnamp8217t act much like terrorists amp8220I can only stay two more hoursamp8221 said one as he munched an Oreo cookie through his mask amp8220I have homeworkamp8221Peacefully cleverly Anonymous at large has taken their message from the medium of the Webamp8212and turned around to make the medium their message again These young people seek and respond quickly to new material Within two hours of posting to YouTube a fourminute video about the Dallas protest it had garnered more than 700 views Within 24 hours that number doubled By Monday evening there were more than 700 new videos on YouTube with footage of Anon protests around the worldThereamp8217s a good lesson in all this for those still struggling to capture the attention of a young generation known to have a hard time concentrating on anything for long Part of that lesson may be to be a little mysterious a little provocative and not to preach but to teach Anonymous in its first video didnamp8217t tell the whole story but amp8220heamp8221 gave clues to where the story could be foundMore than one tipping point is worth mentioning here As a result of the Cruise video the actoramp8217s public image has been forever altered and not for the better As a result of the churchamp8217s response to the public airing of it Scientology has put itself under the kind of scrutiny it has fought to avoid Its carefully crafted image has been shown to wobble in a mass medium the Internet that it couldnamp8217t controlWith broadcast media giving the Anon protests only the scantest coverageand granted it happened on a Sunday morning when most local newsrooms are understaffedthe protesters did the reporting themselves posting their images stories and interviews all over the Web And finally the appearance of Anonymous and amp8220hisamp8221 call to action tipped the perception of the amp8220viral messageamp8221 by creating an international protest movement that galvanized thousands of volunteers into showing up at the same place at the same timeamp8212and in costumesTo borrow a term from LRH himself That is an epic winAccording to Anonymousamp8212who is now regarded as anyone who wants to be part of itamp8212the next global demonstration against the Church of Scientology will be March 15 two days after the birthday of L Ron HubbardClick Below to Follow the Coverage21508 PM YouTube Yanks quotAnonymousquot Video21408 PM YouTube Scientology Freeze Coincidence or Censorship21408 AM Internet39s quotAnonymousquot Puts Scientology and Tom Cruise on NoticeFor more on this subject check out Ed Martin39s review of the South Park episode Trapped in the Closet and his column about the bizarre public behavior of Tom Cruise Also read TVMaven39s take on the infamous Tom Cruise Scientology video

Become a Thought Leader.
Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

TV Maven: Internet's "Anonymous" Puts Scientology and Tom Cruise on Notice

Author

Publish date

Channel

Elaine Liner

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

TV Maven: Internet's "Anonymous" Puts Scientology and Tom Cruise on Notice

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Elaine Liner

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

The payment was successful

Cookies

Become a Thought Leader.
Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership