– Anonymous: We’ll kill Facebook on bonfire night (Pocket-lint, Aug 10, 2011):
Remember remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder, treason, should ever be forgot…
Written about Guy Fawkes’ “Gunpowder plot”, a plan to bring down the Houses of Parliament and assassinate King James in 1605, the children’s nursery rhyme could take on more relevance this year, as hacking group Anonymous has vowed to “kill” social networking site Facebook on 5 November 2011.
It is also the date made memorable by the comic book series V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, which was also turned into a movie. In it, the activist “V” wears a Guy Fawkes mask, something that has since become a symbol of anonymous protest in the real world. So perhaps that’s the more likely reason behind the choice of that specific date.
The hacktivist collective, who recently replaced the Syrian Ministry of Defence website with one of its own, claims that, come bonfire night (as the day is celebrated in the UK), the “medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed”. It also goes on to say that other hackers should “join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy.
Read moreHacker Group ‘Anonymous’: We’ll Kill Facebook On Bonfire Night