Anonymous Protests Around the World - A Summary

Anonymous, the Anti-Scientology group, was true to its word. Protests and demonstrations against Scientology were held all over the world, in Australia, London, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Vancouver, Brisbane and much more.

Estimates say that around 9,000 people demonstrated against Scientology - worldwide. After all the noise, that's not a very impressive number.

Reports from the protests came online rather quick. First it was pictures and videos from Sydney, Australia. Then came live coverage from London. After that, reports from the USA.

Videos appeared on YouTube, depicting the Anonymous protesters carrying signs and wearing masks. There some reports of violence, but it appears that they were all false. The protesters were peaceful and many of them carried cameras to record the event.

According to Wikinews, London was apparently the place in which the demonstration was the largest - around 500 people.

Interesting pictures from the Anonymous "raids" appeared on Flickr, as well. A search of the word "Anonymous" yields a huge amount of photos from the protests.

Here is a slide-show from the protests in Manchester:

And a bunch of interesting links:

• Photo Essay: Anonymous Protest in Hollywood
• Anonymous in Canada
• Coverage of the protests in Boston
• Project Chanology

Live Coverage of Anonymous Demonstrations in London

Continuing my coverage of the anti-Scientology protests, here is another link you might find interesting - live video coverage of Anonymous' demonstrations in London.

Seems like the site updates about once an hour.

There are some clips from the protests in YouTube, as well.

Stay tuned for more updates!

First Videos from Anti-Scientology Protests Hit YouTube

Here we go - the action is starting. February 10th has finally come. Anonymous demonstrations against the cult of Scientology began in Australia, and the reports, pictures and videos started coming in.

Here are three of the freshest videos. Stay tuned for more, I'll be monitoring this story closely.

First Pictures from the Anti-Scientology Demonstrations

The Anonymous protests against Scientology have began. Today, February 10th, is supposed to be a great day for the underground organization. A global protest against the church of Scientology is supposed to break out.

It started in Australia (click here for the pictures) - about 150 people gathered at the Church of Scientology building in the Sydney CBD this morning, most of them carrying picket signs and wearing costumes or masks. The demonstrators handed out flyers accusing the church of financially exploiting its followers and suppressing criticism.

The Church of Scientology's Oceania branch spoke against the actions of Anonymous, described the group as "cyber-terrorists" and accused them of hate crimes.

You can find more details about the protests in Australia in this blog, called Anonaustralia.

Related links
>> Anonymous VS Scientology
>> Anonymous VS Scientology: A Call for Action in Boston
>> Everything tagged "Scientology" in my blog

Anonymous Expects 300,000 Protesters to Join Demonstrations against Scientology

NBC11 reports that Anonymous, the hackers organization that waged war on Scientology, expects some 300,000 people to show up for the protests scheduled for February 10th.

An Anonymous woman told NBC11: "We are having members of Anonymous from all over the world join the protest at their local church of Scientology at 11 AM local time". She also added that "Everyone in the world is invited".

Anonymous is trying very hard to look more serious to the public eye, and shake away the image that they are a group of "hacking kids".

Anonymous successes thus far include a DoS attack on Scientology internet sites, and a campaign of Google bombing that made the Church of Scientology the first hit whenever anyone enters the search string "dangerous cult". Are they going to have the same success in the "real world"?

Anonymous is planning another large protest - two days after church founder L. Ron Hubbard's birthday - on March 15th.

Subscribe to my RSS feed in order to get the latest news about Anonymous VS Scientology and much more.

Anonymous Sets the Rules Against Scientology

The latest news regarding "Anonymous VS Scientology" relate to an Anthrax scare. No, this in not the Gulf War all over again. Still, envelopes containing white powder were sent to 19 different Scientology locations in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

In case you worried - initial tests indicated the powder was harmless.

In the mean time, Anonymous has posted another video, setting rules for those who plan to join the demonstration. The first rule is "Stay Cool", which sounds almost funny, until you hear the rest of the instruction given in the video. Anonymous forbids violence, alcohol or vandalism during the protest, and gives some general advice to those who intend to come. Anonymous also advises to the protesters to bring water and to document the demonstration in any way possible. The demonstration against Scientology is supposed to take place on February 10th.

Have fun storming the castle, boys...

Anonymous VS Scientology: A Call for Action in Boston

Here we are - yet another video by Anonymous (although the YouTube user isn't the same one as in the previous videos). This time the call for action is less cryptic and more to the point.

I wondered what is the meaning of February 10th, and Anonymous provided an answer. They invite "Boston area residents who are affiliated with Anonymous. Mark the date of February the tenth on your calendar. On that date we will congregate at 448 Beacon Street, Boston Massachusetts, at eleven a. m. to participate in the worldwide protest of Scientology".

Anonymous recommends bringing masks - thus protesters can avoid being identified. The demonstrations are supposed to be worldwide. I sincerely hope this is not a publicity stunt by some very sophisticated large company.

It also has been said that the Scientology cultists have struck back and that the main Project Chanology site is now down. Hard to say which is the MAIN site, because there are several interesting references to it. You can see one here.

Anonymous VS Scientology: Act II

No time to rest. The first video of Anonymous attacking Scientology barely managed to sizzle through the net, and now they have another one:

Seems like the guys of Anonymous feel the need to further explain themselves, and to put an emphasis on their threats to destroy Scientology: "It has come to the attention of Anonymous that there are a number of you out there who do not clearly understand what we are or why we have undertaken our present course of action", they say.

"We want you to know about Lisa McPherson. We want you to know about former members of Scientology's private navy, SeaOrg, who were forced to have abortions so that they could continue in service to the church. We want you to know about Scientology's use of child labor and their gulags", states Anonymous.

They also give a date of action: "Be very wary of the 10th of February". What will happen that day? Let's wait and see. This is going to be very interesting.