Photo Shoot: Anonymous Controversy - Should the Public Work to Expose Sexual Predators?

Hacktivist group Anonymous has made controversial efforts to expose and intimidate groups involved in sex trafficking and exploitation of minors, especially online. This photo shoot and article is meant to publicize their efforts and the controversy regarding possible unintended effects generated by such activism. Read the full story below and join our mailing list to discover how to get involved, shop some merch or apply to be an affiliate for the brand! We need more help! 

Operation Death Eaters

In 2014, the Group Anonymous  organized an operation to combat sex trafficking by high profile individuals, they questioned propaganda, raised awareness and worked with journalists and human rights activists and attorneys. The group focused on legal methods of obtaining information, according to Thor Benson from this Medium.com article published in 2015. 

Operation Death Eaters was a global operation that focuses on establishing a database to analyze seemingly random instances of sex trafficking that goes reported and unreported by the media. The goal of this tactic is to gain insight into the identity and function of the underground networks.

They have called on their following to research cases of high level corruption and to “present them widely and clearly” by sharing the information across social media, and to find “qualified and trusted people” who should be chosen to serve on  independent, victim-led inquiries.

Anonymous has stated, "In fear of these investigations being bungled over time, the operation’s objectives are clear and simple: source public information before it disappears, push for independent inquiry, and offer support to witnesses and the victims where needed."

The group has outlined its first step in the operation as gathering “meticulously researched and clearly documented examples of high level complicity in the industry, obstruction of justice and cover ups to show the need for independent inquiries”.

Operation DarkNet

In October 2011, Anonymous launched Operation DarkNet, an attack on servers related to websites catering to an underground community involved in sharing pornographic content of minors. Anonymous began by removing links to images and videos posted on a website called "The Hidden Wiki". The site eventually became inaccessible in its entirety, presumably as a result of the server attack initiated by the group. 

By October 15, the group had discovered a trove of pornographic images hosted by 'Freedom Hosting' and thus issued a warning to the administrators including a demand to remove the content. After Freedom Hosting refused to comply, Anonymous shut down their servers, however they were later restored from backup records. 

By October 20th, Anonymous released the names of the 1589 users of Lolita City, a central hub for sharing lewd content of minors online, and took down over 40 websites altogether. They then invited the FBI and Interpol to investigate their findings. Anonymous released the following statement:

"By taking down Freedom Hosting, we are eliminating 40+ child pornography websites, among these is Lolita City, one of the largest child pornography websites to date containing more than 100GB of child pornography.
We will continue to not only crash Freedom Hosting's server, but any other server we find to contain, promote, or support child pornography."

What followed was a string of media outlets publishing the event, including outlets such as The Examiner, Gawker, Huffington Post, and PC World. By October 24th, news outlets including BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and TechieBuzz. 

Anonymous, possibly through a deceptive browser security update, claims to have created the ability to trace Identity information of browsers going to Lolita City, sending the information to Anonymous' forensic logger.

By using this technique, they claim to have logged 190 visitors to Lolita City on October 27th and made the information available to the public and law enforcement with the message to the users of the darknet websites, "We have already ID'd you despite 'the myth' of Tor 'Anonymity.' We 'pwned' and 'hacked' Freedom Hosting and Lolita City."​

The Controversy

Christian Sjoberg, boss of image analysis firm NetClean which helps police forces categorise images of abuse, said while removing images was laudable, hackers should think carefully about what they have done. "It could be dangerous," he said, "because if its a big host the police will definitely know about it." "If you think of these images as evidence of a crime that's published on the internet then the picture gets a bit more complicated," he said.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, said the attacks were misguided. "Take-downs of illegal websites and sharing networks should be done by the authorities, not net vigilantes," he said.

The attacks could have put an existing investigation at risk, stopped the police from gathering evidence they need to prosecute, or made it difficult to argue that evidence has not been corrupted, said Mr Cluley.

"The Anonymous hackers may feel they have done the right thing, but they may actually have inadvertently put more children at risk through their actions," he said.

However, it should be noted that according this article with the headline, "The FBI likely ran nearly half the child porn sites on the dark web in 2016", law enforcement may be committing the same crimes they claim to be investigating, without much success.

For example, the controversial use of just a single warrant to hack thousands of computers in a notable investigation into a child pornography site called Playpen netted some 1,300 unique internet protocol (IP) addresses. Of these, fewer than 100 cases made their way to court, and judges in Iowa, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma ruled that the FBI’s investigation techniques violated current laws of federal procedure.

Anonymous states, "The best way for law enforcement to react is for us to release it. They can choose to follow or not."  "If the FBI, Interpol, or other law enforcement agency should happen to come across this list, please use it to investigate and bring justice to the people listed here." they said.

In another statement Anonymous reminded the public that the purpose of Operation Darknet was to reveal that a service like the "Tor Project" has been ruined by the 1% using it for Child Pornography.  The rest, 99% consists of Chinese/Iran journalists, Government intelligence fighting a secret war with Al-Qaeda, and free speech activists.

"We proved beyond doubt, that 70% of users to The Hidden Wiki access the HARD CANDY section, 'a secret directory' used by the pedophiles to access sites like Lolita City and The Hurt Site, a site dedicated to trade of child rape", which Anonymous states 'do not qualify as free speech'.

"Our demands are simple. Remove all child pornography content from your servers. Refuse to provide hosting services to any website dealing with child pornography," it said. "This statement is not just aimed at Freedom Hosting, but everyone on the Internet. It does not matter who you are, if we find you to be hosting, promoting, or supporting child pornography, you will become a target."