In June 2001, German activists staged an online demonstration against the
involvement of the German Airline Lufthansa in deportations of asylum
seekers. This protest was conceived as an adaptation of established forms of
street protest (demonstration, blockade) to the 'virtual urban space' of the
internet. Using floodnet-type software, more than 10000 activists attacked
the Lufthansa website and disturbed the e-business activities of the
airline, just after the e-business website of Lufthansa went online and only
days before a major shareholder meeting. Not only in terms of the number of
persons involved, but also in terms of media coverage before and after the
event, it was possibly the most successful action of this type ever in
Germany.

We analyse this action in view of its context and pre-requisites, and in
view of the experiences of organisers, participants and by-standers. What
were the criteria of 'success' or 'failure', what were the legal
repercussions (still contested at the moment these lines are written), how
did the protest represent itself to its participants? We argue that, in
trying to adapt and reproduce forms of street protest within the 'virtual'
setting of the internet, activists had in fact to create a new communication
network, both virtual and real, where the action could be announced,
discussed, visualised and self-represented. In conclusion we discuss to
which extent the success of this action was dependent on earlier media
discourses on the internet ('Internet-Hype'), and ask whether this success
can be reproduced in the present-day situation.

Contact:
autonome a.f.r.i.k.a. gruppe

afrika-gruppe@gmx.net
http://kommunikationsguerilla.twoday.net/
http://www.contrast.org/KG/

Full Paper