Mustafa Al-Bassam and Jake Davis appear together publicly for first time since being convicted for computer hacking. Academic and Anthropologist Gabriella Coleman leads the conversation.

A ban forbidding communications between the pair, or any of the wider Anonymous collective was lifted in June this year, following a two year internet ban. This will be the very first time they have spoken since the day of the court case in 2011.

Gabriella Coleman trained as an anthropologist and now teaches, researches, and writes on computer hackers. Her work examines the ethics of online collaboration/institutions as well as the role of the law and digital media in sustaining various forms of political activism. Her first book, Coding Freedom: The Aesthetics and the Ethics of Hacking is published by Princeton University Press and she is currently working on a new book on Anonymous and digital activism.

Mustafa Al-Bassam and Jake Davis are former computer hackers, who were part of a core group arrested in 2011 for their parts in Anonymous and LulzSec and banned from the internet for two years. Jake currently works on various film, theatrical and arts projects and offers script consultancy and technical advice around the subjects of hacking, the “deep web” and online culture. Mustafa is a student, studying Computer Science.