Antiwar protestors in San Francisco this year used smartmob techniques to outflank and tie down police surveillance. Added to the classic mix was using a locally-focused independent media Website to host and stream video footage of protests, collected by digitial cameras and uploaded. The site also hosted demonstrators’ blogs, which offered “a running commentary,” and “so new would-be protestors could jump on the web before leaving home.”
They were playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the demonstrators who used cell-phones, text messaging and a pirate radio station to keep one step ahead of the police by coordinating swarm maneuvers. Messages were sent out to roving bands of protestors who gathered at busy intersections, wrapped chains around their hands, put their arms in plastic piping, and sat on the road to stop the traffic.
Smartmobbing San Francisco antiwar activists
- May 27th, 2003
Comments
@ 13:59
I am sorry but “smartmob techniques to outflank and tie down police surveillance”. is not subversive behavior protected by free speech. It criminal and treasonous behavior that sets dangerous protocol for United State citizens by undermining security. This is a form of warfare masquerading as a “peace demonstration.” People who are for enacting genuine change or supporting peace, should think twice before engaging in this behavior.
@ 15:30
It is indeed warfare against fellow citizens whose safety and welfare is endangered. Who bears the cost of wasted police resources‚–and perhaps an arms race of countermeasures? We all do. This is not dissent but mindless anarchy that undermines our democracy. Above all it’s a dumb strategy for trying to influence anyone, as has been shown by the backlash to these demonstrations even in loony-left SF.
@ 17:23
I am not a fan of black bloc actions against property, violence against authorities, or activities that harm people who are just trying to get to work or make a living.
I’m suspicious, however, of the current atmosphere in which dissent is equated with treason. The word is bandied about far too often these days as a mindless attack on any who disagree with the policies of the current regime.
The last time I looked, peaceful civil disobedience was still allowed in a democracy. Violence and blocking emergency vehicles do not constitute civil disobedience, but the tactics decried as “mindless anarchy” are not so different from those of the civil rights movement. I agree that such tactics become counterproductive when they enrage citizens rather than recruit them to the cause of the demonstrators. But maybe the same people who think of SF as loony-left would have said the same thing about the crazy demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama, four decades ago. They were also branded as traitors and anarchists.
@ 09:17
Mmmmm..
Sorry Howard, I don’t buy the whole, protest = vietnam or demonstrate=Civil rights notion. Those protests were much more lawful, they had a clear and unified agenda, and they were more about humanity then politics. In transverse, today’s activist is lawless, has no clear agenda, and is more about politics then humanity.
In Vietnam an unclear long and drawn out war on an undefinable enemy was ended by public decent, in the Iraq war professional activists protested before the action started and even after the action was completed and they achieved nothing but to draw support to America’s enemies. Drawing this comparison is an oft repeated mistake of those who are genuine in thier desire for peace.
Saying you area against illegal acivity and then indirectly condoning it by comparing it with the civil rights movement seems like poor form IMO.
However, I wish you peace friend.
@ 11:12
So in this case ‘smartmobbing’ – whether with mobiles or blogs – may have been tactically successful, but helped lead to strategic defeat. The anti”s ended up in a high bandwidth, fast loop discussion with themselves, and didn’t engage the bulk of the populace. Result: post-war polls show 79% support for the Iraq campaign even if no WMD are ever found. That’s almost as bad a thrashing as Saddam took; the anti movement was an utter failure, and has yet to face the fact, or discuss why that happened. Without that discussion and corrective action, their capability to influence events when/if NKor or Iran come on the table will be even less.
@ 19:42
Are phenomena like smartmobbing of interest because they empower people, or only to the extent they empower people one agrees with? Most or all of the examples cited are on the far left, so I wonder. What about the same tactics employed by abortion protestors? Or by taxpayers who dissent from wasting money on unionized government-run schools? Are these equally cool? Or is this entire discussion really subordinate to a particular political agenda? I do honestly wonder.
@ 09:35
It would surprise you that somone would use new technology to further their political agenda? It is all about finding where you can agree. If you have ever studied the laws of factions, it is in our interest pull away from left and right, when we can, and find what is intellectually true. Jesus loves the left and right.
Howard is a great author and has done a fabulous job with his book and this blog. While I do not always agree with him, I respect his work, and enjoy his thoughts. Furthermore, among emergent technology blogs liberal thought seems to be the rule. If you want to follow the truth get used to being in the minority.
@ 10:13
I try to report instances of collective action that are specifically catalyzed by mobile communications and the Internet, irrespective of the politics of those who participate in the action. In other words, I’m not endorsing the politics, but reporting on the phenomenon. I know that I have offended more radical friends when I have argued that the anarchist fringe have been politically counterproductive. But I cannot in good conscience remain silent when someone trots out this dissent equals treason garbage. Neither do I intend to waste too much of my time arguing about it. However, any opportunity for people to debate political issues, arguing the issues rather than trotting out slogans, is worth putting some energy into.
@ 17:13
I agree I do not see my blog as a platform for political opinion nor do I get the idea that you do. I do love democracy, the jinky knocking about of spirited ideas is healthy. Where differing ideas come together is the beauty of America.
Al Gore used to be a Republican, Reagan was a communist for a while, and my grandfather a WW2 vet, almost joined the Nazi party while in Germany because it was “popular”. So political alignment is transitive to me anyway.
When ever religion, politics, or ideology is followed as dogma- blindness will ensue.
Hmmnn..okay I will bite:
It may be that Tatoe was being a little extreme with the term “treasonous”, but maybe that is how he feels. I also have to lean towards the idea that while civil disobedience to make a point is acceptable, civil disobedience for the sake of disruption is definitely criminal and possibly verging on mutinous mobbery. “We don’t agree so we are gonna break a bunch of crap” is the behavior of thugs.
What would you say the line is between treason and dissent in a time of war?
Protestors who went to Baghdad as human shields crossed the line I think . ( Although you gotta respect someone who puts their money where their mouth is.)
Aid and comfort to the enemy is defined how? What say you?
@ 07:23
Let’s leave it at this. I agree with: “”We don’t agree so we are gonna break a bunch of crap” is the behavior of thugs.”
And I believe that one form of aid and comfort to the enemy is turning the US into a country where people fear to express their opinions because slogan-shouting thugs accuse those who question their country’s policies of a capital offense. The terrorists of 9/11 succeeded in provoking the US government to attack its own citizens.
I was on the streets myself, not because I believe Iraqis deserved their leadership (neither do I believe the North Koreans, Iranians, Indonesians, Guatemalans deserve their leadership), but because I did not believe what my government was telling me about the immediate danger of weapons of mass destruction. And I don’t believe any democracy should go to war without debate. Is it treason to accuse your government of lying about the reason for sending our young people to kill and die? Especially when it turns out that they were, in fact, lying?
@ 22:26
“Sorry Howard, I don’t buy the whole, protest = vietnam or demonstrate=Civil rights notion. Those protests were much more lawful, they had a clear and unified agenda, and they were more about humanity then politics. In transverse, today’s activist is lawless, has no clear agenda, and is more about politics then humanity.”??????
this has got to be one of the most bizzare and misinformed statements I have ever encountered! Rosa Parks broke the law to make a point. This is largely considered the beginning of the civil rights movement. Lunch counter sit-ins are another example. Civil Disobediance by definition, is an unlawful activity!
as far as a “clear and unified agenda”, when one is protesting a “clear and unified” situation, then of course the agenda will superficially be more “clear and unified” – but if you can say that, for instance, Malcolm X, Louis Farrahkan, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Seal all shared a “clear and unified agenda” then you obviously can pull about anything else out of your posterior that you want.
Tell me, are you drawing your information about the “agenda” of the current anti-war movement from Fox News, or first hand experiance? I was in not SF for last year’s march 20 protest, as I live in the midwest, but the only coverage that lasted more than 15 seconds I saw was on indymedia and free speech television.
Of course, with the military contractors and oil companies owning the news oulets, ANY message that is counter to their agenda will be intentionally garbled. It’s no wonder that with such blatant propoganda being passed off as “news” that the ill informed populace would think as their masters tell them to, especially when any critical thinking is instantly labelled treasonous or terrorist.
To judge the effect of a demonstration in SF, one cannot look at national polls, as SF is not the whole nation. I highly doubt that 79% of SF residents are “pro-war”
As far as likening the attempted shutdown of a city to historical precidents, look at the black march on washington that my grandmother told me she witnessed in the 60s, or the strikes that won us 40 hr work weeks and such thet started off the labor movement back around the turn of the century. Or, for that matter, look to the founding fathers of this country… was the Boston Tea Party a lawful protest?
as far as the comparison of smartmobbing to warfare, have you seen how the police dress for such a thing? when facing stormtroopers, how else is one to strategize?
as far as the thugs who go around smashing private property of individuals and small buisnesses, that is unconsionable, but time and time again that has been shown not to be the actions of the protestors, but of police agent provaceteurs (often times there is photo documentation of the thugs behind the police lines fraternizing with the uniformed police) In some places, police have actually paid neo-nazi skinheads to infiltrate the protests and start violence. What better way to discredit peaceful protesters? if you do not believe that the governement is capable of such things, you are obvioussly ignorant of history, check out COINTELPRO, and learn about your tax dollars at work! (the so-called “black panther coloring book” is a perfect example, the bombing of Judi Bari is another, and the list goes on and on and on – and thats just of the stuff that has been proven in court or through FOIA documents)
perhaps by a “clear and unified agenda” what you mean is “groupthink” in which case, you missunderstad the entire point. The current movement is not about relegating oneself to a party line (in spite of the ISO’s involvement in the ANSWER coalition) but about individuals claiming the power that is theirs and joining together when they share a common cause.
As buckminster fuller said years ago, we’re either headed towards utopia or oblivion, Single-issue protests are insane in such a situation, because things do not exist in a vaccuum.. Yes the war in iraq was wrong but it was not the root of the problem, it’s only one outcropping. it was not about weapons of mass destruction, and noone who was even slightly informed believed that one for a second. It really wasn’t even about oil directly, tho that was part. It was about maintaing the predominance of american empire. It was to prevent the Euro from becoming the currency of trade for the oil sheiks. It was about Halliburton, Kellog, Root and Brown, the Carlyle group, Boeing, Raytheon, etc bilking the national treasury to enrich an elite few. It was about driving the american government into bankruptcy so that its assets can be sold off at fire-sale prices to the current administration’s investors. It was about making sure that people were distracted from wondering why it took 34 minutes to scramble fighter jets when a plane known to be hijacked was headed towards washington DC after two planes had already hit the world trade center towers. when only 10 minutes is allowed to scramble fighter jets to any hijacked plane and that 10 minutes had previously always been sufficient.
i’m sorry but this whole thing does not fit into 5 second soundbites, it takes actual thinking, and I am sorry if your television has impared you from such capabilities.
@ 14:02
http://www.indybay.org/antiwar
Check out this year’s antiwar coverage, one year after the attacks on Iraq have become a permanent nightmare. M20 – the world still resists!!!
@ 18:21
We aren’t all peaceniks, nor for peace, some of us are for WAR, war against the terrorist administration of the US.
A little revolution is good for democracy. Blood founded this sick democracy, and blood might need to be spilled to restore it.
@ 19:42
Hi there,
over here in Spain we had a big thing going on last week. As most of you probably do not know, the conservative government of the ex-fascist party Partido Popular lost the elections after manipulating media and lying to it’s own people.
Maybe you heard of the terrible terrorist attack on three trains on 11th of march. While all over the world governments, secret services and media would report about the declarations given by so called “islamistic terrorists” the spanish government did not stop to blame the basque separatist organization ETA to have commited those horrible attacks on the people of Madrid. The spanish television and radio did not inform the people about facts that showed relatively fast that it was more than probable that these attacks had to be considered as a terrorist answer to the spanish commitment in US foreign policy.
But as nowadays information is globally accessible the people of Spain could read all the news in internet. On saturday 13 the hipocrisis was to big. Triggered by mobile-phone short messages more than 25thousand people got out on the streets of madrid to protest against the manipulation. Wonderful things happened. Imagine 25thousand people making a spontaneous sit-in at midnight in total silence in honour of the victims of the attack. Imagine dozens of demonstrations in all big cities of Spain, organized by the people themselves, in less than two or three hours. And imagine a government to be outed as liars and manipulators ten hours before the voting started.
I guess smart-mobs are not only about making funny performances in shopping malls (although I like those a lot) – smart mobs are definetly necessary nowadays to face repression and manipulation. And can be very successful.
If you know some spanish you can read this report about what was going on in Madrid last week: http://acp.sindominio.net/article.pl?sid=04/03/17/1216257&mode=thread&threshold=0
If you don’t know spanish – ask in your neighbourhood. There should be a lot of people who know
saludos, pepe