a few years ago, a person that i used to look up to said something that bothered me. it was something along the lines of "the internet should never have implemented anonymity."
since then i've been blocked and banned from this person's community for unrelated reasons, but i now know what i'd wish to tell that person.
the internet is anonymous by design. the idea by which people connect their identity to the web, is a purely recent thing, introduced by social media.
you cant NOT have anonymity. you wanna know why? because the internet is built for seeking snd sharing information.
in real life, when someone shares information, it can be judges based on traits of their identity. because humans are biased, and have generations of biased background to back that bias.
in real life, when someone seeks information, it can put a label on their identity. people will see you seek information about X, and assume that you are Y. it may or may not be true, or it may be that while it is true, the seeker is not ready to accept it yet, or is not ready for others to know it yet, or that it is not safe for the seeker to have people around them know it.
i think that Tom Scott explained this concept well when discussing the possibility of giving governments encryption backdoors: What happens when you have a Monk who is talking online with someone about questioning his faith, or his sexuality? If you disallow the anonimity of such a person - what would hapoen to them? What would happen to queer people living in homophobic countries seeking information? On the simpler, yet important, level: What would happen to someone living in a transphobic household, seeking information about transitioning? What would happen to someone living in a homophobic household who seeks a community online?
I'd love for this question to stay hypothetical, or be some kind of a metaphor. But considering new regulations being already made in certain western countries... I get the feeling that sooner or later, we are going to witness the obvious answer by experience.
Dear Icarus - I hope you're proud.













