A note on anonymous speech
by Margot | October 3, 2009 | First Amendment, KLAMP, Newspapers | Comments Off
A First Amendment right to speak about politics anonymously was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 1995, when the court held that a lone pamphleteer had the right to distribute political literature without having her identity revealed.
But anonymity online has been subject to concerns about the harm inherent in gossip and reputation demolishing. This has brought up some needed legal analysis of when, and whose, anonymous speech should be protected. (See Nathaniel Gleicher’s YLJ piece)
There are certain cases, though, where anonymity should be completely preserved under American law. The Chinese government recently ordered news websites to require users to log in under their real identities to post comments on news stories. This has caused a noticeable, and understandable, chill in discussion on the sites.
Anonymity does enable the foundations for democracy– the more fearful the government, the more valuable the ability to anonymously speak your mind. But as in much law, legal development occurs on a continuum. It’s important to keep the Chinese scenario in mind even when discussing online gossip– law made in one area inevitably bleeds into its related counterparts.
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