Reply to post: Without the ability to be Anonymous, you cannot have free speech

Without the ability to be Anonymous, you cannot have free speech

In order to have the ability for free speech and the ability to freely discuss topics, you have to have anonymity or you will find that nobody can safely discuss anything but the most mundane of topics.

The social media companies want to push "Verified" in a big way because like facebook, they use that to then directly invade your privacy and sell you individually to the highest bidder.

In addition with the rise of endless data storage, people are being attacked and pilloried for discussions decades earlier and applying modern hysteria over words or assumed insults to vastly different times.

We are fast becoming a much better version of 1984 than ever imagined.

Today people are attacked and the mobs of group think try to destroy the lives of people simply for having possibly at one time said a word when discussing it as part of a list of words that should not be said as they could be hurtful.

Now imagine if you had to say only what would not get you in trouble for the next 80 years across a wide variety of places and cultures, and worry about fanatics who vilify even talking about the things that should not be talked about.

Without anonymity, you won't be able to survive and have intelligent meaningful discussions about important social or cultural or historical matters.

What also if your government takes a dim view of being criticized and would like to skim through social media to determine anyone not speaking in favour of the government?

The "Social Media" empires are happy to let people say how much they hate the current president of the USA... but did you happen to notice they seem to be also perfectly happy to fall in line with Chinese censors without so much as a protest? When the stick gets big enough, they will turn on their users and side with the Government to eliminate dissent.