Should Websites do away with Anonymous Comments?

PERHAPS SICK of being the poster boy for Godwin’s Law, the Huffington Post plans to ban anonymous commenting. Beginning next month, users will have to register their identities before they comment, declares founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington, ending a long tradition (in Internet time, that means eight years) of unfettered reader participation. 

It’s not an unexpected decision, but it comes with much cost. Discussions will be less robust, some information that should be made public will remain hidden, and the enemies of free speech will be handed an easy victory by those who should be its defenders.

[...] 

...Internet did not invent anonymous commentary. The Federalist Papers, for example, were originally published under the pseudonym of “Publius.” Would Huffington have denied their authors — founding fathers Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison — the right to make their arguments? One hopes not, and for good reason. Anonymity helps expose truth. It also gives some measure of power to the weak and the marginalized. 

It is those who are on the inside of something, be it government, a corporation, or an institution, who are best positioned to know about wrongdoing. But many are reluctant or unable to bear the personal consequences of that exposure — retribution, humiliation, legal threats, job losses — and so they tell their stories without revealing their names. Reporters realize there are risks to this, including a heightened possibility a source may be lying. But still, some of the biggest stories in journalism were broken using anonymous sources. Remember Watergate and Deep Throat?

And even when it comes to everyday commentary, requiring registration means that fewer will participate and that those who do will guard their words. A victim of rape might want to describe her own experiences in response to a story on sexual harassment but, knowing that somewhere her personal information is attached to her comment, she’ll demur....

Read the full story HERE.

I think many people who comment on sites start out by making anonymous comments and as their confidence in their opinion increases, many eventually do end up with a name or handle.

I'm not for restricting free speech in any shape or form. Even from those who choose to keep their identity secret....

hahahaha...although with the software that's available now to owners of websites.. Anonymous people may not be as anonymous as they think.

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