In the last couple of years there's been a shift on major websites to end anonymous comments.
Huffington Post is the latest site to make the shift. Starting next month, users will no longer be able to comment on the liberal news site without using their full name.
You'll notice many newspaper websites have already made the switch. For example, a couple months ago the Miami Herald ended anonymous comments. USA Today forces you to comment only using your Facebook profile.
So, from now on, Facebook will be tied to almost everything you say on the Internet. And this is the way Facebook and Google want it:
Got that? Silicon Valley doesn't want you to be able to voice unpopular opinions and anything politically incorrect without being immediately identified.
But it's not just the tech companies. State legislatures are already considering prohibiting websites from allowing anonymous comments.
For example, such a ban on anonymous speech has already been proposed in New York:
Link
And another like it has just been introduced by a state senator in Illinois:
Link
And we shouldn't be surprised. After all, Google's Schmidt has already said he expects governments will demand we use our real names online.
This is how free speech dies on the Internet. You don't even need to pass hate speech bans or other laws restricting speech that wouldn't pass constitutional muster if you just force everyone to use their real names wherever they post on the web and then foster a culture that ostracizes and professionally destroys them once they're identified.
And when you consider this campaign to end anonymity along with the NSA revelations of how the tech companies colluded with federal spy agencies, it becomes pretty obvious that there's a broad effort to put the clampdown on free speech.
Huffington Post is the latest site to make the shift. Starting next month, users will no longer be able to comment on the liberal news site without using their full name.
You'll notice many newspaper websites have already made the switch. For example, a couple months ago the Miami Herald ended anonymous comments. USA Today forces you to comment only using your Facebook profile.
So, from now on, Facebook will be tied to almost everything you say on the Internet. And this is the way Facebook and Google want it:
Quote:Quote:
Zuckerberg, who is Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, argued that putting an end to anonymity online could help curb bullying and harassment on the web.
“I think anonymity on the Internet has to go away,” she said during a panel discussion on social media hosted Tuesday evening by Marie Claire magazine. “People behave a lot better when they have their real names down. … I think people hide behind anonymity and they feel like they can say whatever they want behind closed doors.”
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has also made this suggestion, calling online anonymity “dangerous” and predicting that governments will eventually “demand” that people use their names for all online activity.
Got that? Silicon Valley doesn't want you to be able to voice unpopular opinions and anything politically incorrect without being immediately identified.
But it's not just the tech companies. State legislatures are already considering prohibiting websites from allowing anonymous comments.
For example, such a ban on anonymous speech has already been proposed in New York:
Link
And another like it has just been introduced by a state senator in Illinois:
Link
And we shouldn't be surprised. After all, Google's Schmidt has already said he expects governments will demand we use our real names online.
This is how free speech dies on the Internet. You don't even need to pass hate speech bans or other laws restricting speech that wouldn't pass constitutional muster if you just force everyone to use their real names wherever they post on the web and then foster a culture that ostracizes and professionally destroys them once they're identified.
And when you consider this campaign to end anonymity along with the NSA revelations of how the tech companies colluded with federal spy agencies, it becomes pretty obvious that there's a broad effort to put the clampdown on free speech.