Scientology tries for restraining order against the anonymous multitude
Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Scientology is giving free publicity to Anonymous in a meatspace variant of the Streisand Effect (whereby trying to prohibit or censor something brings a lot more attention to it instead). The Church of Scientology is seeking a restraining order against Anonymous (all of it?) to prevent the planned protests against Scientology centers on March 15 in honor of L Ron Hubbard’s birthday.
Man, where to begin. First of all, Anonymous is a Stand Alone Complex, so it has no real leaders. Its members are faceless and anonymous, as the name kind of implies. Who exactly would you sue? And how can you sue to prevent a peaceful public protest? That goes against the right to assembly and right to free speech parts of the First Amendment. I remarked previously on this blog that Scientology’s tried-and-true tactics of intimidation and lawsuits will find no purchase against a numerous and faceless foe. They’re about to find out how ineffectual they truly are against Anonymous.
The funniest part of the St. Petersburg Times article was this snippet: “Representatives of Anonymous could not be reached for comment.” Indeed, St. Petersburg Times, indeed. That’s kind of the point. At least you can say you tried.
