Anonymous leads TIME's Most Influential

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

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The cyber hacking group Anonymous has been named TIME magazine’s most influential person in its 2012 TIME 100 Poll in an online survey, beating out a variety of leading celebrities and politicians.
 
The group, which has taken aim at institutions that hinder free speech online, received 395,793 votes in the poll to finish first.
 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan finished in a modest 28th spot with 20,071 votes in favor and 15,105 against.
 
The candidate list was a mix of political, social and cultural figures such as Lady Gaga, Vladimir Putin, Jeremy Lin and Adele. Online polling resulted in a strange top 10 list, with Erik Martin, the social networking website Reddit's general manager, finish second, ahead of Indian political figure Narendra Modi.
 
Further names on the voters' top 10 included Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, football superstar Lionel Messi and Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
 
Russian Prime Minister Putin was 11th while U.S. President Barack Obama took number 21.
 
Although online polling has ended, the final list, selected by TIME editors, will not be revealed until April 17.