CLASS EXERCISE---ANONYMITY APPLIED

Despite the recent trend of websites to adopt policies requiring a real name for online posters, the students were overwhelmingly opposed to such policies in principle and strongly favored the right to post anonymously online.  There was some sentiment, however, for the current state of the law that allows anonymity to be pierced in some situations pursuant to a court order.  To test the strength of   the student' views they were given a hypothetical based on an actual incident where in 2013 an anonymous poster on 4Chan's /b/ Random board perpetrated an internet hoax  by encouraging young girls to cut themselves in protest of pop star Justin Bieber being seen smoking a marijuana joint.  The anonymous poster started a "#cutforbieber" hashtag which went viral on the internet and posted several graphic images of girls who purportedly cut their arms as part of the campaign.  The campaign was later revealed to be a hoax and fortunately no girls actually cut themselves.  In the hypothetical presented to the students, however, several girls actually harm themselves and one dies.  In the hypothetical there is a resulting  public outcry and a call for the website involved to change its anonymous posting policy.  The hypothetical situation and the student response is set out below:

                                                  The Hypothetical
A group of 10-12 year old Justin Bieber fans, in response to the 4Chan hoax, cut themselves. Three girls are hospitalized and one dies.  The grieving fathers want to expose the anonymous person who perpetrated the hoax.  They hold a news conference and demand that you, as owner of the website, take the following actions: 

1.  explain why you would allow your website to be used  by anonymous “animals” to  intentionally prey on impressionable young girls; and

2.  change your policy and require everyone to establish an account using a real name so wrongdoers may be held accountable.

The media are at 4Chan's corporate headquarters waiting for your response and the CEO has tasked you with drafting a written statement to be issued. 

The students were broken into two groups and given 20 minutes to draft  a written statement for the media.

                                            Group One's Statement

First, we would like to apologize to the families of the injured girls and to everyone who was injured or offended by the post. Our current policy embraces the First Amendment protection of anonymous speech. A “real names policy” could potentially chill speech and our legal system considers even offensive speech to be protected under the First Amendment. 4Chan wants to encourage and facilitate the free flow of ideas and opinions, even if offensive to some. However, due to this tragic event, 4Chan will be adopting a change wherein users will be given the option to sign in using a verified Open ID provider like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. We will adopt a modified version of the http://Slashdot.org moderation and meta-moderation scheme, which will work as follows:

 

-         --- Only users using an Open ID https://openid.net provider will be allowed to submit posts for articles;

 

-         --- Anonymous comments will be allowed, but will be given a base score of zero, and will not be displayed by default;

 

-         --- Only verified users who have a net positive contribution to the site will be periodically provided a quota of “upvoting” or “downvoting” posts and comments, for a limited period;

 

-         --- Upvoted posts will be displayed by default, with a numeric score greater than zero;

 

-          ---Downvoted posts will not be displayed by default, and have negative scores;

 

-          ---Moderators will be kept in check by meta-moderators, who will also be awarded points periodically; and

 

-          ---Users with a negative score will have all their posts posted with a negative score. 

 

                                                          Group Two's statement

We are deeply saddened by the loss of the young girls who were preyed on by these devious bloggers. We will do all that you can to assist the families cope with this terrible tragedy. Here at 4Chan we have always valued and will continue the value the fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans, including and especially the Rights enshrined in the First Amendment. To be sure, history has taught us that these rights sometimes come with a price—sometimes a terrible price. However, history has also taught us that these rights are too valuable to be diluted by fear and are worth protecting. One of 4Chan’s many purposes is to create a forum where people from many walks of life can come to exchange ideas in an effort to promote greater social awareness and foster a robust debate on important issues. To further this cause, 4Chan has always allowed its users to post anonymously in effort to respect and bolster the First Amendments rights of all those who use our service.

 With these goals in mind, 4Chan will continue to preserve its current anonymity policy. Although we are aware of the potential dangers associated with anonymity, we have also witnessed how anonymity has historically been a catalyst to social change. We will and we cannot allow fear to weaken our commitment to individual liberty and providing a forum for social advancement. Although we remain committed to this policy, we will do all that we can to ensure the families find the justice and peace that they deserve.

 AUTHOR NOTE: As an aside, neither group discussed the possibility of having the site post a prominent warning that content posted on the site, including comments and images may be offensive, inaccurate or fake.  We ran out of class time to discuss why this approach was not considered and whether such an approach would be reasonable.  Interestingly, a majority of students were unaware  that the acronym used to identify the 4Chan Random Board,  "NSFW", stood for "not safe for work."