Wrapping it all up

"Drawbacks" of my solutions

If Michael Scott has flaws, then it is only logical that each and every one of my proposed solutions will have flaws. I gave you pros and cons for each of them, and in the end they all had a similar outcome: loss of privacy, and an acquisition of unwarranted power.

• With the introduction of an Internet ID the government gains access to a variety of information to use in whichever way they see fit, and consumers are susceptible to an invasion of privacy
• By policing students you are giving schools jurisdiction of something that occurs outside school boundaries, and asking them to take action on something that belongs to the parents
• Should the IPA act ever pass in New York, websites will be given the power to remove any comments, unless you attach your identity.

The introduction of any of these programs could be potentially beneficial, but we must ask ourselves if the benefits will outweigh the negative effects that may accompany them. Some argue that taking away the ability to be anonymous may appear to solve the problem of removing trolls will only create a bigger problem. A study done by Livefyre found that

"Most of those surveyed responded anonymously (or pseudonymously) because they didn’t want their opinions to impact their work or professional life by being attached to their real names. And close to 80 percent of those surveyed said that if a site forced them to login with their offline identity, they would choose not to comment at all." 

(Ingram, 2014)

Check out this cool infographic, courtesy of Livefyre

Go O'Mara

Last but certainly not the least. So, we talked about a way to keep internet users accountable, we talked about punishing them, so finally its time to talk about taking away anonymity in its entirety. One of the most extreme solutions, and also the most improbable would theoretically be a solution to all of the problems, but not ideal.

In 2012 this lovely guy over there, Senator Thomas O'Mara, of New York worked with Dan Murray on sponsoring legislation A.8688/S.6779- The Internet Protection Act. Basically, the IPA, (not the beer, even though I could go for a Terrapin Hopsecutioner...) is an act that would work against anonymous comments on websites. While some websites have actively worked on requiring accounts prior to posting comments, or linking your Facebook or email address, this bill would allow you to post, but if you don't identify yourself then the post will be deleted.

"This bill will offer them the opportunity to either confront the person making these comments by having that person identified," said Murray, "or have the comment removed all together in the case where this comment is false or slanderous."The measure would require these websites to have either a toll-free phone number or e-mail address for victims of cyberbullying to contact. If a complaint is filed, the website administrator will be required to contact the original commenter, who is given 48 hours to identify themselves as the author of the anonymous post or else the comment will be deleted." (Verette, 2012)

As I stated earlier a solution a little less extreme is where websites such as Slate.com take a similar initiative as the Internet Protection Act. Unlike the IPA's retroactive nature,  they are proactive in requiring you log in to a Facebook or to create an account under your name. While some users are hesitant due to the misconception that websites such as Slate.com require this hurdle in order to steal your information, the reason for doing so is actually to "filter" out comments. According to slate author Farhad Manjoo there is a direct correlation between the hurdles and the quality of comments: the harder it is to post a comment to an article, the better the comments get (Manjoo, 2012). 

Pros and Cons of Creating Policies to Reduce Anonymity

Caught Red Handed

If I wanted to, if I really wanted to, I could provide a list as long as this blog would let me write about instances of cyberbullying. Well maybe not. But you get the point. Cyberbullying happens all the time, it can happen to anyone, anywhere.

Bullying has always been around, since before I was born, since before you were born, actually around 1530 (Donegan, 2012). While bullying still takes place in normal face-to-face interaction, since the advancement of society, cyberbullying was coined in 2000s.

"Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying allows the offender to mask his or her identity behind a computer. This anonymity makes it easier for the offender to strike blows against a victim without having to see the victim’s physical response. The distancing effect that technological devices have on today’s youth often leads them to say and do crueler things compared to what is typical in a traditional face-to-face bullying situation." (Donegan, 2012, p.34)

  

As online innovations progress, cyberbullying becomes more prevalent not only amongst teens, but young adults, and children. In a study done by Sameer Hinjdu and Justin Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center, they found that most forms of victimization occurred in mean or hurtful comments and rumors online via the cellphone or internet (Donegan, 2012). Even though 1 in 5 students are often cyber-bullied, its important to ask whether schools have authority to take action against nonverbal bullying that takes place off of school property?

The common response that kids will be kids, does not necessarily apply. Times are changing and a consistent harassment over the internet, has been shown to cause depression, trauma and potentially suicide. Schools are unsure of what to do because of the potential to be sued for not taking action by the parents of the victim, or sued by the parents of the bully for taking action. It's a sticky situation, which is why a mandate should be created with a set of guidelines on how to move forward in situations like this. Fox News reports that legislation is in the making in Pennsylvania that will take punishment further than school discipline, but given to the jurisdiction of a juvenile court or probation officer (Fox 43 Newsroom, 2015). Doing such takes the responsibility out of the hands of the school, but criminalizes juveniles.

Pros and Cons of Policing Cyberbullying

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Donegan, R. (2012). Bullying and Cyber bullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3(1), 33-42.

A Face to the Name

Last week, I spoke, more so rambled, off some potential ideas to resolve the problem that faces society due to anonymity. Just in case you wanted a tl;dr (too long; didn't read), here ya go:

1. Require Identification before using the Internet
2. Create laws and punishments policing those who abuse anonymity
3. Create policies to prevent the use of anonymity

Well you got your tl;dr but now I'm going to delve a little bit deeper into each of these, just a little, I promise no more rambling. I've actually got some quality information to back up my ideas, so fasten your seatbelt and hold on to your keyboards cause here we go.

First and foremost, identification. I actually thought I was crazy, I couldn't fathom how this would pass in congress, but in 2013 President Barrack Obama was rumored to have been planning to give the US Commerce Department authority of a potential cyber-security effort to create an Internet ID for Americans. The Internet ID to be called " National Strategy for Trusted Identities in CyberSpace (NSTIC). US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke stated

"We're not talking about a national ID Card, or a government control system, but a means to enhance online security and privacy, and the possible elimination of memorizing a dozen passwords by creating a digital identity" (McCullagh, 2011).

While I believe that having an Internet ID would not only be effective in deterring undesirable behaviors, it would be extremely efficient. The main purpose behind the NSTIC is to use create smoother usage across multiple government sites, by reducing the need to have multiple log-ins, with hopes to expand to the rest of the Internet. I forget all my passwords to the point where I just started making one password for everything. Even though I probably shouldn't be telling you this...but yes, I have two passwords that I alternate, on top of that I have every password saved on my Mac, auto-fill, credit cards saved. My computer is essentially all that the Internet ID aims to provide. To be able to order Chinese take out, or binge online shop without having to get up and get my credit card is great. Well great for me, my bank account not so much...

Having an Internet ID could help fight cybercrime and fraud, while it may not be advanced enough to catch an experienced hacker, it could definitely aid in catching spammers, and fraudulent sellers on websites such as Craigslist. The government argues that the need for an online identity is not to allow tracking of information, but to help us. The proliferation of online passwords are not only inconvenient, but they are insecure in 2010, 8.1 million adults in U.S. suffered from identity theft or fraud at the cost of $37 billion. (Badger, 2011).

Pros and Cons of Internet Identification

As you can see, to create an internet ID has both its Pros and Cons, which seems to be balanced. While in theory it seems like an efficient idea, the cons of the loss of privacy and anonymity are equally valued. Security technologist and chief security technology officer of BT, Bruce Schneier believes that abolishing anonymity will never work, that all designs of the internet requires anonymity and that a form of universal identification is impossible. He furthers his argument by stating that even if we were able to trace internet packets back to its origin, there is no proving that a packet was directed by a particular person. Check out his article here! It's a good read, and may put my solution to shame, but he does make some valid points...

I know I said I wouldn't ramble, buttttt I never made any promises, actually I did, sorry. Here's a picture of a cute cat:

Also, just in case you got lost in the ramble, this video might help clear up some facts about NSTIC. How nice of me. I know.

 

I'm not all talk

Now what kind of activist would I be if I didn't have any solutions? I'm not all talk; in fact I have some potential solutions to some of the problems that Internet anonymity causes.

For one thing we could change the technology we use and have everyone require identifying information prior to logging on to the Internet. Just like going to the library, driving a car, going to the bank. You have an identification card, where everything can be linked back to you. If need be a police officer could pull your whole driving history, similarly if the situation arises your browsing history is easily accessible.

So why not implement the same thing as the Internet? Have parents register their children when they reach 13, or any particular age with an Internet log-on ID. Every time you sign on to a web browser, or connect to Wi-Fi you type in your 8-digit code. Doing so mirrors some state universities where in order to connect to Wi-Fi or use a computer you are required to enter a login. While officials don't monitor it daily, if anything happens there is a way to determine who said what.

Maybe, that's a little far fetched, potentially an invasion of privacy. The world doesn't need to know that I sometimes end up on the Kids Section of Netflix and binge watch Disney Channel movies at 4AM....

How about, we enforce harsher punishments and create laws against cyberbullying. One problem with cyberbullying is that it is such a new concept that laws have not been accommodating, the federal government should work on creating laws toward policing these people. Now cyberbullying isn't just for teens, tweens, and everything in between, but for vengeful, or malicious people who leak information not to be in public: such as Kim Kardashians claim to fame, or The Fappening. The creation of anonymous accounts allows you to post whatever you want, whenever you want, without repercussions. So why not employ tech savvy to police and punish them?

While these are all hypotheticals, some states across the country have taken action against anonymity.  Without infringing on ones right to browse anonymously, they simply remove the capability of posting comments anonymously. If you wish to post something, there is no persona to hide behind, websites such as Huffington Post, ESPN and many other sites require you to create an account with them, or link it with a registered site such as Gmail or Facebook (Manjoo, 2011). The Internet Protection Act drafted in New York requires a little more; instead you must verify your IP Address, your name and home address (Mathias, 2012).

The Root of All the Problems

This is it the tip of the iceberg folks: Anonymity. 

I don't know you, you don't know me, but that's what the Internet is for. I can speak my mind freely, and not give a hoot what you people reading have to say, because I'll never see you. Sure my picture is over there on the right, yes that's me I promise I'm not cat-fishing you. But I could be, and you would never know.

In a typical face-to-face interaction there is a sense of checks and balances, for every action you do and everything you say there is a direct repercussion. It is not socially acceptable to use a "Yo mama" joke in public, I mean you can, but that might be the first and last one you use. But once you are on the Internet what is the worse thing that can happen? You get reported? You lose your account?  You can just log out, create a pseudonym email, and register under a new account. Did you learn anything? No. Did you feel any repercussions? No.  Because you don't exist on the Internet. You are just another face behind the millions of screens the Internet hosts.

There once was a time, where 12 year olds only had to worry about scraped knees and cooties. Do 12 year olds still believe in cooties? I can't remember. Any who, in 2013 12-year old Rebecca Sedwick committed suicide after being bullied over online anonymous cell phone apps. Being bombarded with messages stating "Go kill yourself" and "Why are you still alive" it eventually drove her to the edge. The anonymity in social media sites and apps removes any form of identification or accountability for who says what, bringing out the worst of human nature. Do we need more deaths to understand that words can kill? (Taran, 2013)

Verbal abuse, written abuse, ostracism, it wears down a victim, decimating their self-esteem and suffocating vestiges of hope for a positive future (Taran, 2013). The lack of social norms over the Internet combined with the ability to be faceless increases the likelihood of virtual abuse. Had some like Rebecca's actual bullying been focused primarily in school around her teachers and peers, the likelihood of someone stepping in would be increased exponentially. For social norms have taught us to TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED! Someone, somewhere, is able to overhear the bullying and step in, but with virtual abuse you rarely know when it is happening.

Social norms are able to impose a sense of uniformity of behavior within a given social group. However, over time norm shifts may occur, when prompted either by changes in objective circumstances or by subjective changes in perceptions and expectations (Young, 2008). The norms present in society have not readily nor easily transferred over to the Internet community. Non-profit organizations such as Project Happiness, End to Cyberbullying, The Cybersmile Foundation and hundreds of others broadcast public service announcements in hopes to end bullying. We need to create a system and continue to educate everyone about the dangers of anonymity on the Internet.

The anonymity of the Internet is similar to this saying:

"If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it does it still make a sound?"

If you make hateful remarks about someone over the Internet, and nobody else sees it, does it still hurt?


Both children and adults need to understand that anonymity isn't something to hide behind, it should not be abused nor used to torment others, but as a way to ensure a sense of privacy over the Internet. Anonymity does not need to have a negative connotation, but until a set of checks and balances is created within the Internet, there will never be a change.
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Young, P. (2008). Social Norms (S. Durlauf & L. Blume, Eds.). The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 1-288. doi:10.1057/9780230226203.1563