Hacktivism and Cyberviolence

Catalog description

Hactivism is a process designed to be “the creative use of computer technology for the purposes of facilitating online protests, performing civil disobedience in cyberspace and disrupting the flow of information by deliberately intervening in the networks of global capital” (Gunkel 2005). This course addresses the challenges of hacktivism for policymakers involved in domestic and international information conflict and cybersecurity related to this process. It does so by critically examining the processes of digital vandalism, cyberprotest, advocacy and persuasion used to elicit political, social and economic change. The primary focus of the course is on non-state actors and organizations who engage in the process of hactivism and cyberprotest movements.