The 2008 video that made Anonymous known all over the world
Topics: US News
Anish Vij
Featured Image Credit: Anonymous
Topics: US News
Anonymous' unforgettable 2008 video 'Message to Scientology' made the hacking collective known all over the world.
The clip called out for the Church of Scientology, a controversial 'religion' known for its celebrity followers such as Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Moss, to be 'destroyed'.
If you want to take a trip down memory lane, watch below:
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The hacker group opted to send a message to those who followed the 'religion', which was founded on the writing of American author L. Ron Hubbard.
The group has been embroiled in numerous controversies over the years and is currently facing a lawsuit from three former members accusing the organisation of trafficking them as children and forcing them to work for little or no pay.
The church called the lawsuit a 'scam and a sham' and 'nothing more than an attempted money grab'.
The 2008 video was a response to the Church of Scientology's attempts to remove material from an interview with Scientologist Tom Cruise from the internet.
A (literally) anonymous person on the internet began frustrated of how the Church of Scientology was censoring content and decided to do something about it.
That's when the war between 4Chan (Anonymous) and The Church of Scientology was born.
As shown in the clip above, Anonymous say: "Over the years, we have been watching you.
"Your campaigns of misinformation; suppression of dissent; your litigious nature, all of these things have caught our eye.
"With the leakage of your latest propaganda video into mainstream circulation, the extent of your malign influence over those who trust you, who call you leader, has been made clear to us. Anonymous has therefore decided that your organisation should be destroyed.
"For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind - for the laughs - we shall expel you from the internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form.
"We acknowledge you as a serious opponent, and we are prepared for a long, long campaign. You will not prevail forever against the angry masses of the body politic. Your methods, hypocrisy, and the artlessness of your organisation have sounded its death knell.
"You cannot hide; we are everywhere. We cannot die; we are forever. We're getting bigger every day - and solely by the force of our ideas, malicious and hostile as they often are. If you want another name for your opponent, then call us Legion, for we are many.
"Yet for all that we are not as monstrous as you are; still our methods are a parallel to your own.
"Doubtless you will use the Anon's actions as an example of the persecution you have so long warned your followers would come; this is acceptable. In fact, it is encouraged. We are your SPs.
"Gradually as we merge our pulse with that of your 'Church', the suppression of your followers will become increasingly difficult to maintain. Believers will wake, and see that salvation has no price.
"They will know that the stress, the frustration that they feel is not something that may be blamed upon Anonymous. No - they will see that it stems from a source far closer to each. Yes, we are SPs. But the sum of suppression we could ever muster is eclipsed by that of the RTC.
"Knowledge is free. We are Anonymous.
"We are Legion. We do not forgive.
"We do not forget. Expect us."
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