Anti-establishment protesters flood UK Parliament SQ.

Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London

Hundreds of anti-establishment protesters linked to the global hacktivist group Anonymous, near the British houses of Parliament under heavy police presence in a demonstration dubbed the Million Mask March.

They have a long list of grievances, among them, government corruption, inaction on the climate crisis, racism, infringement of civil rights, mass surveillance, and involvement in military interventions abroad.

The event happens on the same date every year, the 5th of November, a date associated with an attempted attack on parliament in 1605. But instead of the traditional burning of an effigy of one of the culprits by the name of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire each year, the group don masks made popular by the novel and movie V for Vendetta. They say they’re symbolic of standing up to power.

They also wear them to protect their identities, to remain anonymous. To their supporters, they’re freedom fighters or digital Robin Hoods. To their opponents- a cyber lynch-mob or cyber terrorists. Among the crowd, the Palestinian flag and supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, jailed in the UK.

The mostly peaceful Million Mask March started in 2003 and has grown bigger in number; a grassroots group that says it aims to shed light on government corruption and protect liberty.

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