Anonymous blog commenters threaten democracy … really
Legislators in New York have found the enemy, and that enemy is YOU.
Yes, you. Those of you sitting out there reading this and getting ready to respond anonymously in comments below. You are the problem, and they have the answer to that problem:
That’s right. Under bills filed in both the New York Senate and Assembly, it would no longer be legal for blogs, social media outlets, newspapers and other Internet outlets to allow anonymous commenting. All commenters would be required to post under their real name, and the blog administrator would be required to have on file the commenters’ home addresses, phone numbers and email address.
As Wired reports, Assemblyman Jim Conte defends the legislation as necessary to cut down on “mean-spirited and baseless political attacks.” The requirement would “turn the spotlight on cyberbullies by forcing them to reveal their identity.”
Thomas O’Mara, the Senate sponsor, believes it “help lend some accountability to the Internet age.”
Politicians wanting to make citizens accountable…. Isn’t that backwards?
– Jay Bookman
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326 comments Add your comment
JamVet
May 25th, 2012
8:18 am
Hysterical.
Right on cue, the anti-intellect, Fox News/ Wheel of Fortune crowd demonstrates their party-wide penchant.
To wit, I read recently where the Republican membership of the US Congress that believed in anthropogenic climate change stood at 11%.
Eleven percent!
This is the kind of number one would see in Ethiopia or Iran or North Korea.
And only then amongst the non-educated people in those countries…
JamVet
May 25th, 2012
8:18 am
Redact my last to read do NOT believe…
Stevie Ray...Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right here I am....
May 25th, 2012
8:20 am
Lest we not forget the Clowns and Jokers will do anything to get elected and re-elected. I reckon next they will target known offenders such at FoxNews and MSNBC…
JamVet
May 25th, 2012
8:21 am
Redact my last to read what it did originally!
Oh well, the travails of multi-tasking and trying to get out the door to go make money!
Huge LOL at me!
Grob Hahn
May 25th, 2012
8:25 am
Anonymous writing that is critical of the government is an American tradition. Without it, there would be no America at all.
Grobbbbbbbbbbb
kayaker 71
May 25th, 2012
8:27 am
Did I read it wrong, or is the New York State Assembly composed of 67% Democrats nd 33% Republicans?
Stevie Ray...Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right here I am....
May 25th, 2012
8:33 am
Kayak,
Probably the first time I thought a Democratic majority may actually serve the general public..
Empire State of Mind
May 25th, 2012
8:35 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjsXo9l6I8
JamVet
May 25th, 2012
8:37 am
OK, gotta go and keep the 1% comfy.
You global cooling Republicans keep up the good work.
And remember to thank Turkey.
Because of them, you neocons don’t have us dead last among the 32 industrialized countries around the globe who believe in evolution! Things all went downhill after that damned Scopes Monkey Trial, huh?
Crack a science book once every decade, OK?
Toodles…
Rightwing Troll
May 25th, 2012
8:39 am
“My return challenge to you is to show me even one instance in which Obama either (1) increased revenue or (2) decreased spending while in office. I’ve issued that challenge many times here, but have yet to get an answer.”
Increased revenue has been a “not only NO, but HELL NO” from the party of NO. So it’s simply been an impossibilty because it takes cooperation and compromise to do this.
Show me a single solitary example of a president who HAS decreased spending in the last 50 years please. What has been shown is that Obama’s spending increases have been the least of any modern president.
Adam
May 25th, 2012
8:40 am
Is this not an infringement on the Supreme Court’s already pre-existing position (based on past decisions) of privacy? And free speech by extension?
Anyway I am uncomfortable in general with a lot of different places having that much detailed information about me. It’d be one thing if I was a public official, or working publicly in an official capacity. I think the only thing I’d be comfortable with is somehow tagging people that have IPs outside of the area (if the blog is about a local issue) as such, and either auto-moderating them or putting a big red sign on them so everyone knows.
cloudodust
May 25th, 2012
8:42 am
I’ll just legally change my name to to the Irish version of, Cloud O’Dust or maybe honor my 1/32 share of Cherokee heritage but capitalize the ‘C’. The Indian version would guarantee me more rights so it’ll probably go Native American…Remember our fallen this Memorial Day. God bless America.
Adam
May 25th, 2012
8:42 am
My return challenge to you is to show me even one instance in which Obama…. (2) decreased spending while in office.
Do you remember the debt ceiling deal? I know it hasn’t happened yet, but does it count as a promise broken if he and Democrats stick to it but Republicans vote to change the deal (as they have tried to do already)?
Peter
May 25th, 2012
8:42 am
Gee here in the state of Georgia where we are LAST in the nation according to Ethics …..thanks to the Republican’s.
Maybe the folks giving, and receiving the gifts shouldn’t be anonymous.
But no the GOP wants to grab their ” Gifts anonymously ” because they work for all Georgian’s ?
Sure…..HA HA HA !
Jack
May 25th, 2012
8:45 am
A Newton County teacher has filed suit claiming disrespect by anonymous bloggers in a local publication. She claims that her reputation and standing in the community has been harmed. The publication has been sued also demanding the correct names of the bloggers.
MrLiberty
May 25th, 2012
8:54 am
Free speech is NEVER a threat to democracy. It is ONLY a threat to the totalitarian regime that now infests our governments (at all levels). NYC has, certainly since 9-11 but well before that, been one of the two greatest centers of totalitarian oppression in the country (Washington D.C. being the other. The city now has its only complete spy network, a squadron of drone aircraft, surveillance cameras on every corner, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they even have their own tactical nuclear weapon arsenal (all paid for by the citizens of the US, not just NYC).
The current empire is on the verge of collapse. The dollar may look great against the other worthless currencies it is compared to, but trillions of new ones have been printed in the past decade and its collapse is imminent. The empire is attempting to sustain “colonies” in over 150 countries through 1000+ bases and it is bleeding the citizens’ wallets dry. The closer the regime gets to collapse the worse this kind of reactionary response will be. The legal assaults on people leaving the country and taking their wealth with them will become overwhelming. The wall that everyone wants to keep the mexicans out will become a wall to keep us all imprisoned as the state closes its grip on our freedoms and our liberties. This is the way all empires end. Unless the citizens stand up and turn the tide and restore the republic, the future is all but written.
And frankly I fear some of the psychos that also post here far more than I do the government (as far as my anonymity is concerned).
MrLiberty
May 25th, 2012
8:59 am
Free speech is no longer protected in this country. Obama now claims the power to imprison indefinitely and even assassinate anyone he desires without due process (and has murdered two already). Maintaining anomymity in this day and age has tragically become critical. We now live in a police state. Congratulations, this is the america you all have worked so hard to allow to happen.
MrLiberty
May 25th, 2012
9:01 am
To be clear, Obama has already murdered 2 american citizens already. He has murdered hundreds if not thousands of individuals without due process through drone attacks, etc. but they were not americans so it probably doesn’t matter to anyone.
Facts Will Prevail
May 25th, 2012
9:10 am
MrLiberty
May 25th, 2012
9:01 am
To be clear, Obama has already murdered 2 american citizens already. He has murdered hundreds if not thousands of individuals without due process through drone attacks, etc
_________
Can you tell me how many American citizens George W. Bush murdered in a WAR that should not have been? Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
Joe Hussein Mama
May 25th, 2012
9:31 am
You can have my identity when you pry it from my cold, dead router.
The Golden State
May 25th, 2012
9:36 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU27XO5vB2k
Misty Fyed
May 25th, 2012
10:10 am
Wow…can someone please tell me where the republican party has gone?
Misty Fyed
May 25th, 2012
10:15 am
So first they pass a law allowing the government to indefinitely detain US citizens because of “suspected” terrorist affiliation. Now they want to pass a law requiring identification on internet blogs….Does anyone else see a pattern developing?
We should all be afraid…..very afraid.
MrLiberty
May 25th, 2012
10:31 am
Facts Will Prevail – Far more than Obama. They should both be tried for war crimes. Sorry, not going to take that bait. I don’t buy into the left is bad, right is great crap. An Indonesian war crimes tribunal just indicted Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and numerous others from the past administration for war crimes. Great. Now to Obama and his administration.
Not sure whether you are one who believes that anything a democrat does is ok but everything a republican does is not. If so, get over it and believe in principles not politics. Morality is supposed to transcend stuff like petty political party crap.
MrLiberty
May 25th, 2012
10:33 am
And by the way, I have been speaking out against every war criminal president since I got in volved in politics in the late 80’s. I have no problem slamming a democrat or a republican if they violate the constitution, the rule of law, their oath of office, etc. If everyone took that stand we wouldn’t be in the mess we are currently in.
Ivan Cohen
May 25th, 2012
2:57 pm
Thanks to the legislators in New York, I now have an idea of what Facism was like under Benito Mussolini.