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posted by mrpg on Sunday November 05 2017, @04:29AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-refrain-from-commenting dept.

Submitted via IRC for takyon

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


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @01:11AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @01:11AM (#592740)

    What has the world come to when hideously ugly SJW trannies are mocking their enemy's lack of a penis?

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday November 06 2017, @07:04AM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday November 06 2017, @07:04AM (#592904) Journal

    I'm neither ugly nor trans, thanks :) And while I don't fit the standard SJW mold either, if the choice is "SJW x-or whatever kind of sewer-dwelling incel chromosomal disaster *you* are" then count me in as part of team bluehair.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...