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This week, representatives from Google, Facebook, and Twitter are appearing before House and Senate subcommittees to answer for their role in Russian manipulation during the 2016 election, and so far, the questioning has been brutal. Facebook has taken the bulk of the heat, being publicly called out by members of Congress for missing a wave of Russian activity until months after the election.
[...] The point is clear enough: if you're fighting Russian interference on social media, anonymity is a big problem. In some ways, it's the original sin, creating space for that first lie that lets trolls enter the conversation unnoticed. "Account anonymity in public provides some benefits to society, but social media companies must work immediately to confirm real humans operate accounts," Watts told the committee. "The negative effects of social bots far outweigh any benefits." It's a common insight among bot-hunters, and one that's become particularly popular amid this week's hearings.
[...] The problem is social. We're used to anonymity on the internet, particularly on the services where it's still available. It's hard to know what an anonymity backlash would mean for services like Twitter, Reddit, and 4chan — all of which are named in Watts' testimony as playing a role in Russian disinformation.
In the background, there's an even harder question: is anonymity still worth saving? It's foundational to many people's idea of the internet, but amid widespread online harassment and Facebook itself, it's come to mean less and less. Even without Russian influence campaigns, the web's online spaces are largely associated with the ugliest parts of humanity. (4chan is a prime example.) With new pressure from Congress, bot analysts, and the public, online anonymity may not have any defenders left. In the face of that, Twitter, Reddit, and others might decide a real name policy is a small price to pay for forestalling federal regulation.
Source: Russia's Social Media Meddling Could Spell the End of Online Anonymity
Previously: Russia Bans VPNs and Tor, Effective November 1
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jmorris on Sunday November 05 2017, @09:56AM (8 children)
As usual, the stated reason is a lie. They couldn't care less about the Russians. Hell, until the Wall fell the Democratic Party was openly aligned with Soviet Communism and considered it the Future. For that matter they still do consider it the Sunny Uplands of History and work toward it and it was Hillary in league with Putin selling out 20% of American uranium deposits for massive contributions to her "foundation".
They don't like anonymity because it allowed US to speak unspeakable things without suffering the usual consequences like becoming unemployable. They want those "good times" back.
Look at the current antics, where police are scouring surveillance footage to find the "monsters" putting up signs all over the place with the message:
Since a 4chan meme has broke into meat space they expect to be able to track down the miscreants and destroy their lives for putting up a message that tame. On the Internet they joke about gassing kikes daily, safely anonymous. But beyond the jokes, the "Jewish Question" is alive and openly debated. Don't try it in the real world. If you want to know who rules you, look at who you must not insult or question. Best not to even notice. Remember when CNN lost its effing mind and threatened to dox some reddit dweeb? It wasn't for what they said it was, it was for a well researched, large image he was posting showing the staff and management of CNN who were of the tribe.
The bottom of the image has this text:
Well now you know the rest of that story.
In meat space James Damore lost his job for suggesting it might be worth looking at the results of all of the affirmative action and see if it is actually having unintended side effects, whether women actually DO want to work in some of the geekier STEM fields at precisely the same levels as men, etc. After all, there ARE fields where more women are taking the classes so logic would dictate some majors should be less popular. Meanwhile on the Internet the debate is, shall we say, much farther developed already. Again almost all anonymously. The right has grown used to burning through twitter accounts, if they really do start locking new account creation to phone numbers it will quickly become a left wing echo chamber.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by digitalaudiorock on Sunday November 05 2017, @02:40PM (4 children)
...blah blah blah...drool drool. Seriously folks. Who the fuck is modding this as "Interesting"? Go home to Brietbart already.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 05 2017, @04:10PM (3 children)
LOL, you can't refute anything so you have to label someone "Breitbart reader" aka "alt-right" (neither of which is actually a bad thing, only in SJW shitcunt circles) and everyone can see right through your virtue-signaled veneer of authoritative moral superiority.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 05 2017, @05:30PM (1 child)
Eww, who left the door open during the rain? The worms are crawling in!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 05 2017, @10:45PM
If GP really is a "worm," then his words will stand on their own and reveal him as such, but all your visceral reaction has done is helped to prove his point.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday November 06 2017, @07:06AM
You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday November 05 2017, @03:34PM
What the fuck did i tell you about staying off the cross? Winter Is Coming (TM) and we need all the firewood we can get. Of course if you wanna burn too I've got no problems with that at all.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday November 05 2017, @11:07PM
Your employer? Your bank? A corporation with enough money to deploy the lawyerpult with seconds notice?
Agreed, these are among your masters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @02:07AM
> until the Wall fell the Democratic Party was openly aligned with Soviet Communism and considered it the Future
I take it you aren't old enough to remember JFK calling Khrushchev's bluff and getting the missiles out of Cuba? I was ~8 years old at that point and it made an impression on me for sure.