The start of the crusade
The origins of The Great LonDini are not based on heroism, but rather on tragedy, after a close friend of Leo suffered the suicide of his 14-year-old son, a victim of cyberbullying. This same individual asked the hacker for help in tracking down the bullies, which eventually allowed him to contact his parents to inform them of what happened and thus try to break the cycle of digital violence, which in turn allowed him to heal at least partially his own wounds.
This is how the specialist realized that his skills could help clear the networks of all those who took advantage of them to attack others and thus contribute to the creation of a better world for everyone. All this supported by an alter ego whose combination of the words Linux and Houdini perfectly captures the technological and enigmatic nature of the mission.
The movement is born
The first documented publication of The Great LonDini occurred on January 27, 2021 on Instagram with the presentation of its logo: a horned hand combined with a skull. Almost a month later, on March 2, they appear on this same social network with a video starring three masked men with the Guy Fawkes mask revealing the group’s objectives. It also highlights that it is not an original publication, but a reupload from your deleted TikTok account.
And, although the group has a presence on Twitter, YouTube and the aforementioned Instagram, its favorite network is TikTok, to the extent that its official site has a special section for its account. At least when it remains active, since nine have been permanently eliminated and the fate of the tenth is in suspense after being repeatedly suspended for alleged violation of its rules. This, ironically, for harassment, bullying and promoting violence.
To this we add the rejection of some people who have even created requests on Change.org to close the project. Such was the case with Matt briglia , who assures that some of those named are innocent.
These criticisms have not been enough to stop an extremely popular movement that currently has 2.4 million followers on TikTok and many other thousands in the rest of social networks. More significant is that it is increasingly common to find profiles that openly express their support with images, links, hashtags and even with the use of official products available for sale on the collective’s site. Merchandise ranging from posters and caps to the increasingly iconic hand-painted masks by the Leo himself and whose cost reaches $ 105.00 USD. This has caused the hackers turn to Change.org in search of support for the verification of their different accounts, which would result in a symbolic officialization of their fight.
Will The Great LonDini be able to clean up social networks? A brief look at any of them makes it clear that there is a lot of work to be done, but the group promises on video that “until all racist stalkers and scammers are removed […]We are not going anywhere ”.