online anonymity

“Assessing the value of anonymous communication online”

Robert Bodle, PhD (USC)Associate Professor of Communication and New Media Studies, College of Mount St. Joseph

Anonymity as political freedom

Khaled Mohamed Saeed (1982-2010)

Anonymity as political freedom

Wael Ghonim

Tahrir Square 1/25/11

Insights

-anonymity instrumental in organizing protest

-human lives at risk

-online anonymity more difficult to achieve due to a fixed user identity ecosystem

Fixed user identity ecosystem

“Essentially, we are moving beyond the point of no return” (Solis, 2010)

Real Name Only Policy: “Impersonating anyone or anything is not permitted.”

Defining anonymity online

Basic conditions –

1) an anonymous action is not linkable to someone’s identity

2) two anonymous actions by the same person, are not linkable to each other (Clarke, Gauvin, Adams, 2009)

Or, “nonidentifiability by virtue of noncoordinatability of traits” (Wallace, 2008).

Facebook coordinates our traits

mashups widgetssocial gamessocial plug-ins

The “Like” button

A culture of sharing . . .

Sharing one's 'social graph'

One condition - ID is attached

“Essentially, we are moving beyond the point of no return” (Solis, 2010)

Why?

Safety?

Civility?

Market incentive?

Facebook claims real names = safety“When everyone uses their real first and last names, people can know who they're connecting with. This helps keep our community safe.”

“We take the safety of our community very seriously. That's why we remove fake accounts from the site as we find them.” (Facebook Help Center)

the most vulnerable people are far LESS safe when identifiable

-a dissident who fears imprisonment, torture, and death

-a gay teen who wants to reach out online without fear of their family finding out

-a whistleblower who fears retribution

-a person of faith who could be subject to religious persecution

-a battered wife seeking shelter

-a parent who wants their child to navigate safely online

“The Civilizing Effect” of real names

“People behave a lot better when they have their real names down” - Randi Zuckerberg, Marketing Director of Facebook.

“The Civilizing Effect” of real names

The connection between civility and use of real names is refuted by recent studies on use of pseudonyms online (Boniel-Nissam & Barak, 2011; Cho, 2011; Disqus, 2012).

Double edged attributes of anonymity

The same attributes that have antisocial outcomes also have beneficial ones . . .

•Minimizes accountability•Disinhibition•Deindividuation

Minimizes accountability

tempts criminals to act w/impunityoffers safety from reprisalmasks failure/builds confidence

Disinhibition

stupid, abusive, vile, hateful, dishonest speech uninhibited public opinionexperimentationintimacyhonest self disclosuretherapeutic value

“Anonymity is authenticity” (Poole aka “Moot” 2011)

Deindividuation Effects

antinormative behaviorgroup normscommunity IDhigh participation

Anonymous Collective Action

Human rights dimensions of anonymity

Anonymity supports fundamental freedoms and rights online

•Privacy•Right to assemble•Freedom of expression

Democratic Rights and Freedoms

Anonymity enables political expression that is “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” (Supreme Court Justice Brennan, NY Times v. Sullivan, 1960)

And . . .

“Protection from the tyranny of the majority” (de Tocqueville 1835)

The authors used the pseudonym "Publius"

Democratic Rights and Freedoms

First Amendment protection of anonymous communication tolerates offensive speech to allow for robust political debate, including . . .

“differences of opinion, scathing dissent, and the risk of disorder” (Bollinger, 2009).

Protect rights and freedoms online and offline

Demand social media sites, services provide:

-privacy-pseudonyms-anonymity-freedom from surveillance

With global implications . . .

Thank you for your attention.

robert_bodle@mail.msj.edu

http://twitter.com/robertbodle

“Assessing the value of anonymous communication online”

Robert Bodle, PhD (USC)Associate Professor of Communication and New Media Studies, College of Mount St. Joseph