Protest movement against the practices of the Church of Scientology
Project Chanology
Part of Scientology and the Internet and Anonymous on the internet
Protesters in Guy Fawkes masks outside a Scientology center at the February 10, 2008, Project Chanology protest
Date
January 16, 2008[1] - c. 2010
Methods
Internet vigilantism, real world protests
Parties
Anonymous
4chan
711chan
Other activists and hackers
Church of Scientology
Lead figures
Non-centralized leadership
David Miscavige
Number
around 6,000 to 8,300 real life protestors at peak[2]
Project Chanology (also called Operation Chanology)[3] was a protest movement against the practices of the Church of Scientology by members of Anonymous, a leaderless Internet-based group. "Chanology" is a combination of "4chan" and "Scientology". The project was started in response to the Church of Scientology's attempts to remove material from a highly publicized interview with Scientologist Tom Cruise from the Internet in January 2008.
The project was publicly launched in the form of a video posted to YouTube, "Message to Scientology", on January 21, 2008. The video states that Anonymous views Scientology's actions as Internet censorship, and asserts the group's intent to "expel the church from the Internet". This was followed by distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), and soon after, black faxes, prank calls, and other measures intended to disrupt the Church of Scientology's operations. In February 2008, the focus of the protest shifted to legal methods, including nonviolent protests and an attempt to get the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Church of Scientology's tax-exempt status in the United States.
Reactions from the Church of Scientology regarding the protesters' actions have varied. Initially, one spokesperson stated that members of the group "have got some wrong information" about Scientology.[4] Another referred to the group as a group of "computer geeks".[5] Later, the Church of Scientology started referring to Anonymous as "cyberterrorists" perpetrating "religious hate crimes" against the church.
Detractors of Scientology have also criticized the actions of Project Chanology, asserting that they merely provide the Church of Scientology with the opportunity to "play the religious persecution card".[6] Other critics such as Mark Bunker and Tory Christman initially questioned the legality of Project Chanology's methods,[7] but have since spoken out in support of the project as it shifted towards nonviolent protests and other legal methods.
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ProjectChanology (also called Operation Chanology) was a protest movement against the practices of the Church of Scientology by members of Anonymous,...
Anonymous (a group that spawned from the /b/ board of 4chan) during ProjectChanology to attack websites from the Church of Scientology, once more to (successfully)...
protests taking place in front of Scientology buildings. Known as ProjectChanology, the movement was "Organised from a Wikipedia-style website (editable...
their campaign against the Church of Scientology; a movement called "ProjectChanology". In the video "Message to Anonymous", Bunker urged the group to work...
hacktivist group Anonymous after appearing in web forums, used in ProjectChanology, the Occupy movement, Anonymous for the Voiceless, and other anti-establishment...
and references to real-life hacktivism were fictionalized, like the ProjectChanology protest. The original soundtrack was composed by Hudson Mohawke. The...
date posted, etc. Piratbyrån described The Pirate Bay as a long-running project of performance art. Normally, the front page of The Pirate Bay featured...
impede official investigations. The group gained worldwide press for ProjectChanology, the protest against the Church of Scientology. On January 14, 2008...
the creator) 711chan, an imageboard dedicated to hacktivism notably ProjectChanology, based on 4chan 888chan, an imageboard dedicated to trolling, based...
In 2008 she took part in protests against Scientology organized by ProjectChanology, itself started by the Internet-based group Anonymous but criticized...
from the "early, more childish," humour, as evident by the likes of ProjectChanology; trolling underwent a so-called "golden age", taking aim at American...
been described as a boot camp. During this phase, known as the Estates Project Force (EPF), recruits are not considered to be full Sea Org members. They...
about Scientology resulted in the creation of the protest movement ProjectChanology. On December 5, 2008, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) added the...
Cottle, upon being photographed by Scientologists during the 2008 ProjectChanology rally, he began fearing for his family's safety. According to Cottle...
Project Normandy was a top secret Church of Scientology operation wherein the church planned to take over the city of Clearwater, Florida, by infiltrating...
form of Internet censorship, participants of Anonymous coordinated ProjectChanology, consisting of a series of denial-of-service attacks against Scientology...
series) Mike Rinder, former Scientology executive and outspoken critic ProjectChanology Scientology and psychiatry Scientology and the Internet Scientology...
Internet Operation Clambake Operation Freakout Operation Snow White ProjectChanologyProject Normandy R2-45 Psychiatry Scientology and Me Scientology as a...
– 1999–2001 organization that protested Scientology in Clearwater ProjectChanology – worldwide protests held against Scientology on February 10, 2008...
"Marblecake, also the game", a reference to the IRC chatroom where ProjectChanology was born and The Game, respectively. In April 2010, Poole gave testimony...
encryption, internet freedom and privacy. In 2008, he took part in ProjectChanology, Anonymous' anti-Scientology campaign. In 2008, DeHart enlisted in...
that someone was sending out important messages. ProjectChanology, also known as "Operation Chanology", was a hacktivist protest against the Church of...
Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion. 8 (1). University of Marburg...
distributed denial-of-service attacks against eBaum's World, taking part in ProjectChanology, and multiple cases of anti-animal abuse reports. Many Internet memes...
interview with Cruise was posted on YouTube by the Anonymous-linked group ProjectChanology, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him...
internationally. In early September 2008 members of the anti-Scientology group ProjectChanology protested outside of New Village Academy and objected to their claims...
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