Anonymous tackles child porn, publishes names

Hacktivist group Anonymous is targeting kiddie porn websites and publishing the identities of the people who use them.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The loosely organized group known as Anonymous has gained notoriety for hacking into the websites of world governments and big businesses. Now, they are announcing that websites featuring child pornography will be actively targeted by the group.

Anonymous has no central leadership, and no membership list. Any individual with knowledge of computers and hacking, can become a member of the Anonymous collective by simply participating in one of the groups loosely managed, but occasionally well-organized campaigns. 

Without centralized leadership, the group does not issue statements from a centralized authority, but rather highly motivated members speak for various segments of the community at various times.

The segment of Anonymous seeking to attack child pornography websites issued the following statement, "Our demands are simple. Remove all child pornography content from your servers. Refuse to provide hosting services to any website dealing with child pornography. 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."

The group has already published the identities of 1,500 individuals who they say are pedophiles using the websites.

Individuals who claim to be speaking for the collective have issued statements against web-hosting firms and websites known to harbor pedophiles and host child pornography content. The group has already claimed success in shutting down several websites, but they also accuse hosting firms of restoring targeted websites after Anonymous hackers have taken them down. They argue that the restoration of known child pornography websites by the hosting firms, amounts to active participation in criminal activity.

The Freedom Hosting firm has been particularly targeted for hosting websites which contain substantial libraries of illegal content.

While many people will applaud the effort to rid the internet of such harmful material, some experts and insiders have criticized Anonymous' activities. Critics argue that some members of Anonymous who visit the popular 4Chan internet forums engage in the public exchange of child pornography. Others argue that Anonymous may actually be interfering with ongoing and undercover police investigations by taking the sites off-line.

It is unclear if the authorities are using any of the published information to track down suspects.

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