An End to Social Media Anonymity?

Labour MP calls for end to online anonymity after '600 rape threats'
Social networks should have access to real identities to flush out abusers, says Jess Phillips

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/11/labour-mp-jess-phillips-calls-for-end-to-online-anonymity-after-600-threats

This Labour MP is calling for social media accounts to be identifiable to social network operators even if they remain publically anonymous.

Over the weekend the security minister, Ben Wallace, said digital IDs should be brought in to end online anonymity that permits bullying and grooming. During the G7 summit the prime minister, Theresa May, called for the tech giants to clamp down on attacks against women.

Even though I mostly agree with this, it seems flawed in that it forces operators to take sanctions that if they were attempted in law would run into problems with attempts to enforce them in other countries. Could this be seen as an attempt to get around that? If somebody in China issued a death threat and the Chinese had no law to prosecute it could the social media operator be coerced into action?

I am unsure about the logistics and effectiveness of this, thoughts?

Pretty much unworkable for nation states. All you require is a VPN to circumvent during the registration process. I very much doubt every country in the world will adopt this system, nor will the UK govt likely insist foreign social media accounts use some kind of identity.

Also, I have a fear it will lead to some kind of Internet license which the government can use at will and whim to sanction anyone they deem has been 'naughty' online. That level of 'control' is unconscionable. For example, the only reason the paedophile scandal broke in this country was due to anonymous posting, repetition via independent media and then on social media by people using aliases. It wouldn't have happened if the govt had this sort of thing in place.

And Jess Philips? Please. She's the queen of all victims; invidiously stoking up her target audience, then crying when they bite back. I suspect her 600 'rape threats' were part of the co-ordinated attack by Carl Benjamin who sent his minions to say 'I wouldn't even rape you' to her in the hope she'd go full fucknut.

It worked.

But the MP in that article acknowledges the importance of teachers being able to speak out about underfunding without employer sanctions and the digital fingerprints wouldn't be for public consumption. Or are you using your slippery slope argument in relation to everything in the article?

Even though I say it's a slippery slope argument, I am not saying it wouldn't concern me too. I think Tory track records validate this type of concern. Is it fair to say you view online anonymity as moral panic?

Mr. Herpes wrote:But the MP in that article acknowledges the importance of teachers being able to speak out about underfunding without employer sanctions and the digital fingerprints wouldn't be for public consumption. Or are you using your slippery slope argument in relation to everything in the article?

Even though I say it's a slippery slope argument, I am not saying it wouldn't concern me too. I think Tory track records validate this type of concern. Is it fair to say you view online anonymity as moral panic?

I'd say it meets some of the sociological criteria of a moral panic, yes. But, like you, I am also weary of the authoritarian streak in conservatism. One only has to the look to the current laws regarding online and offline pornography introduced over the last 8 years to see how these fears might come to fruition.

What Philips said was to the purpose of watering down her authoritarian feminist leanings. You can't let the government control what constitutes whistle-blowing. I can't take that position seriously, especially in light of the fact that government tried to shut down much of the paedophilia allegations that led to the media focus on sex abuse among the powerful and privileged.

I find myself wanting to say it would be different with another party in power but look at the stuff Tony the war criminal Blair got up to.

Breaking news: Clueless narcissistic politicians push for new ways to give themselves a moral ego-boost through punishing people for committing harmless 'crimes'.