Facebook placed under the gun by Anonymous

by Steve Ragan - Aug 10 2011, 09:05

Participants in the AntiSec movement have released a video and statement to the public, announcing the collapse Facebook this November. Interestingly enough, the date is November 5, something most Anons can relate to. The site has been singled out, due to privacy issues and business practices.

“Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed,” the message from AntiSec says.

“Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat InfoSec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria… Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more "private" is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family.”

Operation Facebook’s promotional video was uploaded in early July, and previous attempts to organize something against the social portal have come and gone since earlier this year. In fact, about three months ago, Anonymiss, the female section of Anonymous, blasted Facebook after numerous online activists reported account closures.

“In addition, Facebook’s privacy policy ranks far behind its peers in terms of both transparency and safety. As a private company, Facebook has no real obligation to its users, however, users may be unaware, or may have difficulty understanding Facebook’s labyrinthine policies. If you care about online activism, help raise awareness of Facebook’s treatment of activists, and push Facebook to change its policies,” the Anonymiss statement said.

So planned action against Facebook is nothing new within Anonymous, but this is the first time actual threats have been made. This is perhaps due to the emergence of AntiSec, and its more hostile actions against organizations that are viewed as the enemy.

Most of the early press coverage of Operation Facebook has centered on the question of if Anonymous’ threats are credible. As it turns out, it’s a good bet the operation was announced after someone thought it would be Lulzy, or of high comedic value.

Online, where some of Operation Facebook’s participants are gathered, there is an air of confusion, as some are wondering how Facebook can be destroyed without the use of DDoS attacks.

“You know DDoS won't work, Facebook gets more hits than Google lolz…,” commented one Anon.

The IRC channel promoted by Anonymous for the latest operation clearly says no DDoS in its room topic, instead suggesting “Mass Voluntary Profile Deletion and other legal actions first.”

Such legal means were used to gain a large amount of attention in the public when Anonymous targeted PayPal for the second time. Other suggestions being tossed around the channel include releasing Facebook account data, essentially in the hopes that users will stop trusting the site.

Moreover, account hijackings, creating anti-Facebook memes, information campaigns against Facebook, as well as working out a way to show proof that data remains on Facebook’s servers after it is deleted by the account holder, were also suggested.

There are those who agree with the concept overall, thus somewhat supporting Operation Facebook. Others are calling it a failure waiting to happen. Giving his opinion, one Anon remarked that if Facebook was handing protester information over to law enforcement - that is bad idea.

However, “…people complaining about Facebook data retention are people who didn't read the TOS.”

As of now, the operation is gaining both attention and traction. What started as a Lulzy campaign has grown to the point that something will happen in November, but it’s unlikely to destroy anything.

We’ve reached out to Facebook for comments.

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