The Debate Over Internet Anonymity

Has the Internet devolved to the point that the registration of users’ real names has become a necessity?

“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” This popular saying from The New Yorker is regarded as a declaration of Internet freedom. When the Internet first came into existence, people naturally took to it as a paradise of wild pleasure and joy, where they could air their views freely without revealing their identities.

Recently, however, several noted publications like The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Huffington Post announced that they are considering revising the posting policy for their websites to require that users register their real names. Has the Internet really devolved to this point?

Anonymity is a double-edged sword

The U.S. government never put much of a restriction upon online speech. Only words related to criminal activity would invite police scrutiny. Anonymity has given people more freedom, but it also has created a hotbed for vulgar and inflammatory language. Anonymity protects freedom of speech, but it has become a tool to hurt others as well.

Remember the first case of American cyberviolence? Three years ago, 49-year-old Lorie Drew from Missouri never thought that she would end up in prison just because she created a fake identity on the Internet. Drew, along with her daughter, sent nasty messages to 13-year-old Megan Meier, who had had a falling out with the daughter. Under the assumed name Josh Evans on her daughter’s MySpace account, Drew instigated quite a few ill-informed followers to participate in the bullying. Meier could not bear the humiliation and hanged herself in her room. In 2007, Drew was sentenced to three years in prison.

It is no wonder that Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald wrote that anonymity has transformed a number of forums into “havens for a level of crudity, bigotry, meanness and just plain nastiness that shock the tattered remains of our propriety.”

In response to the serious consequences of anonymous posts, The Washington Post, The New York Times and other American publications will require that users provide personal information before posting any comments. Some websites and well-known blogs will simply shut down their forums.

“As the rules of the road are changing and the Internet is growing up, the trend is away from anonymity,” said Arianna Huffington, a founder of The Huffington Post. She seems very confident in the move towards registration of personal information.

In the name of freedom

This trend will not be an easy sell in a country as enamored with free speech as America. In fact, three years ago, Tim O’Reilly, who popularized the term “Web 2.0,” and Jimmy Wales, a founder of Wikipedia, proposed the Blogger’s Code of Conduct. It suggested that anonymous comments should not be allowed. Several years later, anonymous comments are here to stay, and that code of conduct exists only in name.

Americans believe that free speech is a right endowed by their Constitution. The practice of registering users’ personal information has incurred strong opposition from American Internet users. Some think that the system is a mockery of free speech. One user who claims to be a lawyer posted that regardless of how harsh and aggressive some comments may be, online forums are still bastions of free, open and democratic debate. He fears that registration will result in users posting safe, similar opinions.

Others worry about security issues. Online forums are for exchanging ideas, not authors’ personal information. A user from New York said that after he used his real name to express his view on a gun control blog, he received threats.

Limited registration may be a compromise

The Internet is not only about personal media but also social networking. Everyone is trying to make the online world resemble reality. In 2002, when the South Korean government proposed the idea of Internet registration, it triggered a vehement debate on “violating privacy” and “limiting free speech,” similar to the situation the Americans face now. The implementation of this policy faced significant obstacles, but after several years of practicing and perfecting, the South Koreans now accept it.

“The Koreans have already gotten used to it. It’s like if you are going to a bank, you need to fill in your username and PIN,”* said Zhou Xin, a Chinese student studying in South Korea. In fact, this policy is a limited registration process in which “anonymity is at the foreground, and your real name is in the background.” Online users need to verify their identity using their real names and identity card numbers before they can post any comments or visit a blog. To protect users’ privacy, a code or pseudonym can be used once accounts are verified.

As the first country to enforce the practice of Internet registration, South Korea is a successful example for America and other nations debating this policy.

*Editor’s Note: This quote, although properly translated, could not be verified.