Explore Hacktivism and the vital role computer hackers play in challenging democracy through enabling new forms of activism.
Join human rights activist Maureen Webb and alleged hacker Lauri Love for FUTURES Podcast LIVE, hosted by Luke Robert Mason.
Hackers have a bad reputation, but hacking has become a vital practice in the new wave of activism in which ordinary citizens work to invent a distributed, decentralised democracy designed for a digital era. Today ambitious hackers are already dramatically changing the current political economy by standing up to tech monoliths like Facebook and Amazon; enabling worker cooperatives to provide an alternative to platforms like Uber; giving people control of their data; and providing citizens a real say in governance, along with capacity to reach consensus.
Are hackers a threat to society, or vital disruptors? Is it really worth the personal sacrifice that many hackers have to make? How can the general public better understand the motives of these radicals?
Speakers
Maureen Webb
Maureen Webb is a labor lawyer and human rights activist. She is the author of Illusions of Security: Global Surveillance and Democracy in the Post-9/11 World and has taught national security law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.
Lauri Love
Lauri Love is a British activist and hacker previously wanted by the United States for his alleged activities with the hacker collective Anonymous.
Featured Book
Coding Democracy: How Hackers Are Disrupting Power, Surveillance, and Authoritarianism by Maureen Webb (MIT Press, 2020).