Anonymous describes itself as a casually united association of activists and hacktivists who predominantly gather on the Internet. It became known for a series of online and off-line direct action protests that used both legal and illegal means of demonstration. It has objected to both private sector and government censorship and rallied for the right to freedom of information, among other causes. Using a distributed structure of Internet-based authority, it attempts to champion ideas over individual egos. Anonymous began in the cauldron of the imageboard 4chan performing online tomfoolery and unpredictable acts of trolling and, thus, is perhaps best known for this blend of trolling behavior and social concern.

This entry gives a brief history of Anonymous and details some of the factors that drive it, ...