Should having a false internet identity be against the law?
yorkiegal
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So I was watching the Wright Stuff this morning and they were talking about social media sites which allow 13yr olds to join, based purely on a check on their facebook ID. These are sites which are primarily used to hook up for sex with other people.
The tv show researcher had spent just 15 mins creating fake email, facebook and Tumblr profiles to show how easy it was and Matthew Wright was saying how shocked he was by the number of provocative photos from young teens he'd seen in just an hour after creating the profile. The discussion was about whether these sites should ban under 18's or not.
But it got me thinking. If we created a fake ID to open a bank account etc we could be prosecuted for it. But we can become as many people as we like online and do what we want.
Would it be better if we all had to be open about who we actually are online? It might curtail our right to free speech but should we be saying anything anonymously that we wouldn't want linked back to ourselves anyway? We could still have usernames, just not lie about our age, sex, location perhaps?
The tv show researcher had spent just 15 mins creating fake email, facebook and Tumblr profiles to show how easy it was and Matthew Wright was saying how shocked he was by the number of provocative photos from young teens he'd seen in just an hour after creating the profile. The discussion was about whether these sites should ban under 18's or not.
But it got me thinking. If we created a fake ID to open a bank account etc we could be prosecuted for it. But we can become as many people as we like online and do what we want.
Would it be better if we all had to be open about who we actually are online? It might curtail our right to free speech but should we be saying anything anonymously that we wouldn't want linked back to ourselves anyway? We could still have usernames, just not lie about our age, sex, location perhaps?
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I can't imagine how anyone would be able to police the Internet.
Yes, the World Wide Web may be disreputable at times, but to completely strip away anonymity would create mass hysteria - rightly so.
Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
We all know there are bad things on the Internet, no need to stir up Daily Mail rage with the Internet phobic parents.
Just raise your kids properly.
And no I don't think false internet identity should be illegal. I think more people would be stalked as a result, and less people would have an anonymous forum to talk about things, which is a refreshing and even platform.
Absolutely.
Hear hear
Nice one
I am fiercely libertarian when it comes to the Internet and will not suffer foolish suggestions lightly.
Instead of all this hot air and bluster about things that are not feasible on an open, international network; how about investing into education. That would be a good place to start I think.
For example, many authors write different genres of books under different names none of which may be their birth name. Should that be made illegal?
i don't think they do work as well though and that's the point. The internet has changed the way we interact so much and in such a short space of time and the law is constantly having to try to keep in pace with that. For those of us who remember life pre internet, it would have been a lot more difficult to commit certain crimes back then.
There's a difference between having a username like we do on here and using it to discuss subjects, and creating a fake persona and back story with the aim of doing something criminal with it. I think the former is absolutely something which should remain private to those who are reading it, with only the forum owners or authorities able to track the person if they do something illegal here. But I think it should be made much more difficult for the latter to happen.
ok so how about if you wanted to create a facebook account for example, the law would be that facebook had to check your identity via electoral roll or by sending verification via post to your home address first, for you to reply to? Sort of like how they set up online or telephone banking? I know it wouldn't be popular because it would delay the time it takes to sign up and get posting. Also I'd have to delete my three fake facebook profiles, which I actually just use to send myself items in games requests on my main account.
Same here - it's quite scary when you think of all the information companies like Facebook and Google have on people
I use Ghostery but no doubt it has it's limitations.
The OP said 'provocative' and you've now changed it to 'naked', why ?
I'm more concerned that normal innocent people can be exposed to the irritating little vacuum that is Matthew Wright just by pressing a few buttons on their television.
Something should be done about it.
I imagine few people will be keen on the OPs suggestion, given how vehemently people seemed to be against my suggestion of having a rating system like you find on films and video games, only applied to videos and other content online. I'm still not entirely sure why its such a bad idea if you could somehow prove your the right age to access the content but oh well... anyway, you know of posers? like celebrity posers? there have been a lot of those online since the internet became popular - they can be a real issue, I believe.
For years I posted on the early bulletin boards and even forums under my real name. To this day there's nothing I say here that I wouldn't say in real life.
You choose to do that and that is fine. What I was getting at (badly), is that the choice to post anonymously or under a real name should always be available. I tweet under my real name because I chose to do so but I am not about to dictate to anyone that they should do the same.
Hell that's twice I have agreed with you today. Why all the need for anonymity ? What do people need to say under a pseudo name that they cannot say under there own name?