Use in Popular Protest
In 2006 a pair of rival anarchist groups wearing Fawkes masks confronted each other outside the DC Comics offices. The group led by freegan left-anarchist Adam Weismann was protesting against the film V for Vendetta. A group led by libertarian anarcho-capitalist Todd Seavey counter-protested against the left-anarchist protestors, in favor of DC Comics, and their masks were supplied by a Time Warner employee.
On 23 May 2009, protesters wearing the mask exploded a fake barrel of gunpowder outside Parliament while protesting over the issue of British MPs' expenses.
During the 2011 Wisconsin protests, and then during the subsequent Occupy Wall Street and the ongoing Occupy movement, the mask appeared internationally as a symbol of popular rebellion. In October 2011, campaigner Julian Assange attended the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest wearing such a mask, which he removed after a request by the police.
In January 2012, Guy Fawkes masks were used by protesters against Poland's signing of ACTA.
In Mumbai, India, on 10 June 2012, a group of 100 Anonymous members and college students gathered at Azad Maidan, dressed all in black and wearing Guy Fawkes masks, to protest against the Indian Government’s censorship of the internet.
The mask, used by Bahraini protesters during the Arab Spring-inspired Bahraini uprising was banned in the country in February 2013, few months after a similar decision by United Arab Emirates, another Persian Gulf country. The Industry and Commerce Ministry of Bahrain said the ban of importing the mask, which it referred to as "revolution mask" was due to concerns over "public safety". The decision, described by Voice of America as "unusual", marked one of the latest in government efforts to suppress the two-year-old uprising. However, a British-based rights activist and Samuel Muston of The Independent downplayed the effect of the ban.
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