<story><title>Banning anonymous social media accounts would only stifle free speech, democracy</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/25/banning-anonymous-social-media-accounts-stifle-free-speech-abuse</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ashtonkem</author><text>It’s &lt;i&gt;extremely&lt;/i&gt; suspect that they’re moving to ban anonymity and “legal but harmful”[0] speech as part of the response to an attack that doesn’t appear to have anything to do with online activity. It’s interesting how the tabloids that regularly call people incredibly vile things don’t get singled out…&lt;p&gt;Frankly, I think this is politicians getting tired of being heckled by the citizenry, and this is a convenient crisis to take advantage of. Must not be a lot of fun to go from giving speeches in parliament to being called a wanker or ratio’d online, but that seems like something they should get over rather than curtailing our rights.&lt;p&gt;0 - Part of the Online Harms bill, being debated now.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Veen</author><text>As many UK media organisations have pointed out, linking David Amess’ murder to online speech and incivility allows politicians to be seen to do something without having to address the politically awkward problem of Islamic extremism in the UK.&lt;p&gt;Naturally, Owen Jones chooses not to mention that too.</text></comment>
<story><title>Banning anonymous social media accounts would only stifle free speech, democracy</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/25/banning-anonymous-social-media-accounts-stifle-free-speech-abuse</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ashtonkem</author><text>It’s &lt;i&gt;extremely&lt;/i&gt; suspect that they’re moving to ban anonymity and “legal but harmful”[0] speech as part of the response to an attack that doesn’t appear to have anything to do with online activity. It’s interesting how the tabloids that regularly call people incredibly vile things don’t get singled out…&lt;p&gt;Frankly, I think this is politicians getting tired of being heckled by the citizenry, and this is a convenient crisis to take advantage of. Must not be a lot of fun to go from giving speeches in parliament to being called a wanker or ratio’d online, but that seems like something they should get over rather than curtailing our rights.&lt;p&gt;0 - Part of the Online Harms bill, being debated now.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>gorwell</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s a book about this called `Revolt of the Public`. That&amp;#x27;s more or less the thesis in a nutshell.&lt;p&gt;“All over the world, elite institutions from governments to media to academia are losing their authority and monopoly control of information to dynamic amateurs and the broader public. This book, until now only in samizdat (and Kindle) form, has been my #1 handout for the last several years to anyone seeking to understand this unfolding shift in power from hierarchies to networks in the age of the Internet.” --Marc Andreessen</text></comment>