Should anonymity be removed from social media or will it erode personal freedom and possibly erode democracy?

It's a double edged sword. I've no doubt it would put a stop to trolling and bullying but would those of us who open up about very personal and unpleasant issues here on GN for example, feel they could do so.

The ID policy in China, does that allow for a person to have a user name on line so others on social media don't know who they are, but the authorities do?

I'm not advocating this, just curious.

It would certainly change the face of social media. And maybe that's what is needed. There's some vile comment on many a forum.

I don't think I'd want it but it's not really a case of what I want. Social media has given a voiced to all. And sadly it's being abused.

I can see both sides of the argument, to be honest. There's no doubt that some people need to be called to account for some of the vile stuff they spew on social media - they need to realise that freedom of speech (which should also be protected) does come with responsibilities and potential consequences. And no matter what restrictions are put in place, there will always be those who find a way to circumvent them.

Smileless you risk a visit from the State Security Police, which I would imagine could be rather unpleasant. It depends what you post I suppose but obviously anything anti-government is a no no. That would knock out a lot of GNetters!

25Avalon

Smileless you risk a visit from the State Security Police, which I would imagine could be rather unpleasant. It depends what you post I suppose but obviously anything anti-government is a no no. That would knock out a lot of GNetters!

Yes please refer to the German ideology pre-WW 2

That will give you a good picture of what we are sleepwalking into.

I hope we will never follow what China does on anything!
There is a medium way where these issues can be resolved though and it’s through legislating that the forum companies themselves do certain things to curtail the horrible spread of hate mail.If they refuse then they should be prosecuted.
They must start taking responsibility for their own non action.

It’s difficult isn’t it? A man has just been arrested in Wales for responding to a tweet from a Welsh MP calling for kindness following the killing of Sir David Amess with a death threat. Being able to reply with a pseudonym does encourage trolls to say things that they would never want to be associated with, and some of the abuse online is terrible. The sad thing is, for people on forums like Gransnet, and many other genuinely supportive forums it would be a death knell I think, because people often don’t want to share issues problems using their own name which can be looked at by everybody who knows them.

I agree there are very personal things I wouldn't open up about if it was not anonymous here. I'd also be public for abusive people who I don't want to see me to read my comments.

However would it not work for the platform itself to hold that information and just require ID to sign up?

On gransnet though WE don’t know who each other are but gransnet does.
If any one of us wrote some of the unbelievably horrible things then we could be identified. There surely must be a way of keeping an identity private from all and sundry but available to the police if it it poses a risk to someone’s life?

Her understanding of the internet and how is works is painfully naive.
How would she achieve this?
Does she think someone actually has control of the internet? That there is a company they will tell what to do and it will be created one The WORLD WIDE web?

MP’s need to lead by example - when you’ve got one of them calling other MP’s ‘scum’ it’s no wonder the internet is full of hate.

Violetsky It does already

I don't think the genie can be put back into the lamp.

The social media companies should remind people that they can be traced and be prosecuted, as with the recent threats to footballers, etc.

It certainly would Avalon.

That's what I was wondering Pamela. I agree Casdon and said the same in my earlier post. How does one protect a vulnerable and genuine poster, without protecting another who only wants to do harm?

I hope you’re right and that would be possible. There are thousands of online forums, and Gransnet is probably one of the most securely managed and regulated, but it would still hit lots of others, like small support groups set up for people with medical conditions, mental health issues, baby loss, money issues etc. etc. Something definitely needs to be done though, as it’s completely out of hand with people being abusive online.

Violetsky It does already

Indeed it does BlueBelle. GNHQ could be forced to hand over a posters contact details if requested, to protect themselves from legal action if necessary. Seems fair enough to me.

Nice balanced article in the i about this.

inews.co.uk/news/technology/online-anonymity-priti-patel-social-media-abuse-1253644

Chewbacca

^Violetsky It does already^

Indeed it does BlueBelle. GNHQ could be forced to hand over a posters contact details if requested, to protect themselves from legal action if necessary. Seems fair enough to me.

What contact details? An IP address is easily hidden with some VPNs I believe.

What other personal details did you give GN?

I think people can hide their location and identity quite easily though?

I had a Facebook profile for a number of years before they did then ask to see ID because I have an unusual name and they had a crackdown

What is also not accounted for in Patel's proposal is the existence of bots. Thousands of twitter accounts (and, for all I know, other social media accounts) aren't real people at all, just automated messages sent out from 'bot farms'. They can equally spread abuse and misinformation far and wide.

www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/learning/bots/what-is-a-social-media-bot/

I think the genie is out of the bottle, and on balance, I think that anonymity is more valuable than people being prevented from posting dreadful things online. Many people rely on their anonymity online to ask for help, to discuss things with people that don't know them, to spread the word on state sponsored repression, but I do think that there should be a better use of banning by SM operators when vile and threatening messages are reported.

These bot farms are highly annoying. Either people paying for likes or paying for bots to steal information. I remember a point where Boris Johnson's Facebook page was littered with 100s of identical comments on every post "wonderful Boris" over and over again, it was bizarre.

I think people can hide their location and identity quite easily though?

They can. And do. But they usually get discovered don't they?

Chewbacca

^I think people can hide their location and identity quite easily though?^

They can. And do. But they usually get discovered don't they?

No, if people want to hide they can use things that mask their device ID and their IP address etc, I think it's called a VPN or something. Also there is the dark web where a lot of criminal activity happens and is untraceable.

That's the limit of what I know about it, just read about how they do it somewhere