Dylan Baker Mr.

Newman English 101: Rhetoric 25 September 2013 The Geeks Who Leak Government has changed. Instead of keeping legislation and governmental actions public, things are hidden from us. A game is played where our government tries to get away with as much as possible without the citizens of the United States knowing. Hacktivists, those who leak the many secrets of the United States government, are increasingly being seen as modern-day heroes to the American people. Michael Scherer, in his TIME article The Geeks Who Leak, sees these so called hacktivists as a symbol of freedom and sovereignty for all Americans. In his article, The Geeks Who Leak, Scherer uses logos to go over the intricacies and legality of the actions of Hacktivists such as Snowden, Manning, and Swartz in the protection of free speech and privacy. Scherer, in the beginning of the article, introduces the ideals and goals of the typical Hacktivist in modern-day America. He articulates, He believes above all that information wants to be free, that privacy is sacred and that he has a responsibility to defend both ideas (24). Scherer means, in this line, that hacktivists stand for the basic rights human beings should be given. According to Scherer, citizens in the United States should be aware of what their government is doing, should have a certain amount of privacy from others, and that it is the hacktivists inherent right to protect these rights of citizens. Later in the article, Scherer speaks about groups such as Anonymous and the crimes they commit. Scherer says, These free the files

protests are crimes under U.S. law, but in most cases they are not crimes of the nature the legal system was designed to prosecute (26). He is basically stating that crimes committed by these groups, while considered illegal, are warranted by the natural human rights are government was set up to defend. Because many of the arguments Scherer uses can come under certain scrutiny, he uses logos in order to quell the objections made by those who may read the article. Using logos helped Scherer establish his credibility as an author due to presenting such a controversial topic in America. Scherer uses an infographic to logically present his article and provide the reader assurance. The infographic uses facts such as, 44 percent disapprove of Americans disapprove of government surveillance, 63 percent of Americans are concerned that the government will misuse information collected, and 76 percent of Americans believe that the governmental security program will be bigger than expected ( 27). These infographics used by Scherer help logically develop his argument that hacktivists are heroes to America because they provide legitimate facts about Americans and their views on the governments new programs. Logos seems to be the best available method of persuasion for Scherer in his article because this issue would cause most Americans to grow skeptical if no facts were provided. Scherer effectively brings the article to a close by appealing to young people. He says, In the meantime, the threat of more leaks is likely to grow as young people come of age in the defiant culture of the Internet and new, principled martyrs like Snowden seize the popular imagination (29). This close to the article is perfect and effectively captures the future of our country and hacktivists. Because Scherer earlier said that young people tend to agree more with hacktivists than older people, the statement holds more power over the reader. The reader

realizes that hacktivists are here to stay and this statement leaves a resounding effect on the reader. To end, Scherer adequately uses logos to persuade readers to see hacktivists as heroes of modern-day America. Scherer describes hacktivists as those who leak the secrets of our government and corporations in the defense of free-speech and privacy. By leaking the secret programs of our government, hacktivists allow Americans to be more aware of the country they live in. By using logos to develop his argument, Scherer is able to convince readers young and old of the importance of hacktivists.

Work Cited Scherer, Michael. The Geeks Who Leak. Time June 2013: 24-29. Print.