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The age of anonymous

» Does Internet anonymity encourage hate speech?

Tamara Connor
The Peak (NUW)

?

he far-reaching abilities

of the Internet have
opened many doors for all of
us, but they have also exposed
us to a new racist, classist,
homophobic, and (especially)
misogynistic rhetoric that

we've spent decades working
towards.

Now, don’t get me wrong;
I think the Internet has been a

and it has certainly been an
excellent platform for women
and other underrepresented
groups around the world to
make their voices heard. But
increasingly, those who share
their opinions and beliefs about
injustice online are often met
with a series of comments
meant to shame them for
speaking up.

Consider the efforts made
by feminists to open discussion
about gender equality. After
Emma Watson’s stunning
speech at the United Nations
promoting the ongoing He
for She campaign, she was
immediately met with sexual
threats and told by anonymous
users that naked photos of her
would soon hit the net. Despite

leak was a hoax, this is still an

: instance of sexist bullying, anda :
: threat we should take seriously.

Just because these

comments are made online
: doesn’t make them any less
: harmful or destructive.

We all live two lives: our

physical one in the “real world,”
: and our digital one online.
: Those with a prejudice against

Social justice requires

accountability, but the nature

: of the Internet makes it difficult
: to know from where and from

: whom regressive comments are

: coming. Because of this, we tend
: to shift the blame for online

: attacks onto the victims, which

: isa serious step backwards.

The relationship between

the web and society is not as

: simple as we like to think. The
: Internet has become a sort of
: modern Wild West—lawless

: and often dangerous. From

: behind their screens, trolls

: attack others with vulgar

; comments and threats of

: assault.

But these attacks are only

part of the problem. Perhaps
: : an even bigger issue is how our
the revelation that the supposed : society has normalized these

: attacks, often writing them off

as minor annoyances or simply

an unavoidable part of the web.
: As the real world continues to

: progress in favour of equality,

: the digital one is becoming

: exceedingly weighed down by

; the regressive forces of online

: harassment.

As Laurie Penny, British

journalist and feminist, put
a : women or others tend to use the :
endangers the progressive ideals : Jatter to express their hateful
views. Operating from behind
: aveil of secrecy, people are

: allowed to openly perpetuate

: ideas which would be met with

great tool for spreading equality, : harsh criticism in the real world.

it, “An opinion, it seems, is

: the short skirt of the Internet.
Having one and flaunting it is

: somehow asking an amorphous
mass of almost-entirely male

: keyboard-bashers to tell you
how they'd like to rape, kill, and
: urinate on you.’

Society continues to blame

the women who experience

: online invasions of their

: privacy, instead of focussing

: on the aggressors. After the

: recent nude photo leaks, many
: countered that, ifa woman

: doesn’t want naked pictures

: of herself on the Internet, she

: shouldn't have taken any to

: begin with.

This is classic victim-

blaming, plain and simple.

: It’s no mistake that the leaked

: photos were of some of the most :
: powerful and prominent women :
: in our society—this invasion
: of privacy was an attempt to
: reaffirm patriarchal ideas of
: gendered power dynamics.

The anonymity of the

: Internet makes it hard to
: identify where threats are

: coming from, and because of

: this, we put responsibility on

: women to protect themselves.
: This often translates to

: dissuading women from

: participating in online

: discourse, rather than looking
: to change the problem. :
: Allowing anonymity on the :
: Internet, however, comes with :
: plenty of potential benefits, and :
: threats to remove anonymous — :
: outlets on the web have been

; met with backlash. We know

; that being able to browse and

; post anonymously protects an

: individual's right to privacy. In

: an effort to track the few who

: are responsible for hate speech,
: we would likely punish the

: large majority of web users who:
: don’t engage in these sorts of
: exchanges.

Ultimately, we will change

people’s attitudes about online
; threats and hate speech by

: recognizing and condemning

; them when they appear,

; anonymously or not. Instead

: of focussing on the victim, we

: need to call out these attackers
: and make sure they know that
: their comments are damaging

and unacceptable.
Mob mentality and the

feeling that anonymity allows
; one to get away with anything is ; here; if we don’t, the Internet
: what fuels many to keep posting :
: offensive remarks—if we are

: watching and calling them out,

: they might think twice.

Social justice
requires
accountability,
but the nature

of the Internet
makes it difficult
to know from
where and from
whom regressive
comments are
coming.

Blaming victims and

: dismissing hate speech as

: “trolling” ignores the strides

: made by modern feminism,

: civil rights, gay rights, and

: other movements; and protects
: those who are making the

: Internet less safe. We need

: to take these comments and

: threats seriously. Just because
: they’re online doesn’t make

: them any less harmful or

: destructive.

I encourage all of you to

: think hard about the recent

: online shaming of women—if it
: had happened anywhere but on
: the web, would we be talking

: about it the same way? We need
: to focus on the real problem

: will never become the safe and
: constructive environment that
: it’s meant to be.