Anonymous, credited with shutting down a number of sites in opposition to the actions/policies of the companies sponsoring those sites, has appeared in YouTube land with a message threatening to take down the Facebook Site. It first appeared with this message on July 16, but more recently, the video has been more widely circulated.

Anonymous has a mixed history. It appears to, for all intensive purposes, be a spinoff group from the WikiLeaks fellowship. Like WikiLeaks, Anonymous purportedly seeks to expose companies that compromise security, provide false information, and manipulate the public. This is ironic, especially considering that Anon itself has at times misled the public.

The most recent example is its unsubstantiated claims against Facebook. Anon claims that Facebook sells personal information and that, even after accounts are deleted, saves the information. Moreover, Anon seems to believe that Facebook is working closely with some government agencies to monitor citizens without their consent.

For the Record, Anon has had its hits and misses. It has successfully used a scripting mechanic to overload sites like PayPal, Visa, and some government sites. However, it is loosely organized and lacks any clear leadership. This was evident in a recent Anon failure to shut down Amazon.com.

For now, it seems Anon is beating it's chest. Many Anon members don't even support this attack on Facebook. However, should Mark Zuckerberg be scared?

Only if he really is selling information...

Read more at http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/08/09/anonymous.facebook/