So I'll just float an idea again that always gets rejected here. This is yet another problem that could be solved completely by... Eliminating anonymity by default on the internet.
To be clear, you could still have anonymous spaces like Reddit where arbitrary user IDs are used and real identities are discarded. People could opt-in to those spaces. But for most people most of the time, things get better when you can verify sources. Everything from DDOS to spam, to malware infections to personal attacks and threats will be reduced when anonymity is removed.
Yes there are downsides to this idea but I'd like people to have real conversations around those rather than throw the baby out with the bath water.
>Yes there are downsides to this idea but I'd like people to have real conversations around those rather than throw the baby out with the bath water.
It's hard to have a serious conversation when you present a couple of upsides but completely understate/not mention the downsides.
Eliminating anonymity comes with real danger. What about whistleblowers and marginalized groups? The increased likelihood of targeted harassment, stalking, and chilling effects on free speech? The increase in surveillance? The reduction in content creation and legitimate criticism of companies/products/etc? The power imbalance granted to whoever validates identities?
pjc50 brings up some other great points, which got me thinking even more:
Removing anonymity creates a greater incentive to steal identities, has a slew of logistical issues (who/how are IDs verified, what IDs are accepted, what are the enforcement mechanisms and who enforces them, etc.), creates issues with shared accounts and corporate/brand accounts, would require cooperation across every country with internet access (good luck!) otherwise it doesn't really work, and probably a million other things if I keep thinking about it.
So in this scenario, whose real user ID would be used for the scrapers?
Doesn't this just create an even worse market for identity theft and botnets?
How does this apply to countries without a national ID system like the United States?
What do you do with an ID traced to a different country, anyway?
> personal attacks and threats will be reduced when anonymity is removed
People are happy to make death threats under their real name, newspaper byline, blue tick, or on the presidential letterhead if they're doing so from a position of power.
I mean, this has already happened, it just happened in a more sinister way than "FreedomNet now requires logins from all users!" Ad companies and social media track everything you do and can tie it together with various forms of packaged/bought/sold identity that follow you wherever you go. Even with agressive ad blocking, I get ads on Instagram for things I looked up in my browser that I have never used to log into Insta with. We're constantly deanonymized, it just happens below the surface. And all of this is hoovered up by the US dragnet surveillance programs.
So do I support a fully authenticated internet? Fuck no. If we can get good at bot detection, zip bomb the fuckers. In the meantime, work as hard as we can to dismantle the hellscape that the internet has become. I'm all for decentralized, sovereign identity systems that aren't owned by some profiteering corpo cretins or some proto-fascist state, but I don't want it to be a requirement to look at photos of dogs or plan my next trip.
Such as living under logging. Which, you know (you know?), some people will radically refuse, with several crucial justifications. One of them is that privacy is a condition for Dignity. Another is Prudence. Another one is a warning millennia old, about who you should choose as confident. And more.
A few minutes of spitballing what implementations might look like create a number of problems that appear to make the idea a nonstarter. You should have a real proposal that explores the possibility space, say what the key requirements are, and assuage (or confirm) people's objections. That way more people might be willing to engage with the idea seriously.
I've been thinking about this even before AI. The internet has become society itself. Complete anonymity on the internet removes any sort of social pressure to act like a civilized person.
To be clear, you could still have anonymous spaces like Reddit where arbitrary user IDs are used and real identities are discarded. People could opt-in to those spaces. But for most people most of the time, things get better when you can verify sources. Everything from DDOS to spam, to malware infections to personal attacks and threats will be reduced when anonymity is removed.
Yes there are downsides to this idea but I'd like people to have real conversations around those rather than throw the baby out with the bath water.