Being an activist once meant attending rallies, marching in various capitals, and throwing tea in ports. This concept has been forever changed by the digital revolution, introducing a new generation of activists: hacktivists. A hacktivist is, as the name suggests, an activist who uses computers instead of pushing in person. These groups, whether Anonymous, Lulzsec, Antisec, /i/ and a multitude of others, primarily seek to help people, sometimes even animals, fight for their rights and against oppression. The growing hackivism movement can be explained by the increasing use of computers. We need to worry less about brawls in the streets, but we need to worry more about the near implosion of the Internet as groups numbering in the thousands carry out cyberattacks. Hacktivism is a revolutionary idea that has made anyone with a Wi-Fi connection or an Ethernet cable a freedom fighter ready to stand by. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. G-d hates fags. The soldiers died because G-d wanted them to. Death to all homosexuals. These are some of the common slogans of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. These slogans are motivated by the ultra-religious ideals defended by members of the church. They picket soldiers' funerals, indoctrinate children, and have been in near-war with the group known primarily as "Anonymous" for years. As the Church became more and more well-known, it attracted more and more anger from the online community until it all came to a screeching halt. The church sites were all taken down via schemes called DDoSing, LOIC and HOIC by these hacktivists. Essentially, they flood servers until they can no longer function, shutting down websites. Westboro Baptists have tried to lash out, but each time they have been unsuccessful, as seen when an interview with an anonymous member and a church member ended with the ordering the interviewer to check the site of the church, knowing that it had been destroyed during the interview (Packman). The conflict slowly subsided, until the church shocked the community by abruptly announcing that it would picket the funerals of the Sandy Hook victims. Since then, Anonymous has pledged to wipe them off the map. This series of fights was one of the largest, most public, and one of the first true demonstrations of the power of hacktivism. Real people were fighting behind their keyboards and winning, stopping hate groups and others. However, not all fights are equally important. In fact, there are many more hacktivists, just like activists, who work on a small scale; send Paypal money to a random person to pay their rent or feed their dogs (Anonymous). In 2001, Marc Prensky coined the terms “digital immigrant” and “digital native” which refer to someone born before the technological age and someone born in said era, respectively (Prensky 4-5). Today's grandparents marched for civil rights and against the Vietnam War, the next generation saw the end of the Cold War and fought against racism and education cuts. In today's era, the digital native generation faces a whole new battle, from cyberbullying to cyberwar. “Turn it off and ignore it” is a common response to cyberbullying; as if.