Facebook Does Not Own The Internet

Facebook marketing director Randi Zuckerberg (Mark’s sister) wrote an opinion piecethe other day in which she said that internet anonymity had to go.  That people should be willing to sign their name when they give their opinions.  She feels that this would curb a lot of the bad behavior

You just worry about your own site, Randi Zuckerberg. You don't own the internet.

on the internet, like cyberbullying, for instance.  I can see her point, but I totally disagree.

There’s a good side to personal responsibility and there’s a good side to the freedom of anonymity.  When I speak to somebody I know, in person, and I expect to see them again, I try to avoid saying things like “Jesus Fucking Christ, you are a moron.  I don’t know how you manage to dress yourself in the morning.”  On the internet, I can say that.  I usually don’t.  First, it’s not very nice, but it’s also counterproductive because even stupid people can come up with insults, and they will.  Also, I am not entirely anonymous.  Yeah, I use the name gurukalehuru, but anybody who digs a little bit could find out who I am.

But that’s just me.  Anonymity allows for total free speech, which I think is a good thing.  It may disturb some people to see racist, sexist, threatening and downright evil language on the internet.  O.K., tune in to a set that moderates comments.  If we’re talking about Facebook, it’s really, really easy to defriend people.  I defriend teabaggers and evangelical Christians.  Don’t even feel bad about it.  They have plenty of sites they can go to.

Fortunately for the future of the internet, neither Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook or the United States government has any authority over the internet.  This is an entity which grew up by itself.(O.K., Al Gore started it to link up military and university computers – ancient history)  It transcends national borders.  Randi Zuckerberg can spout off all she wants about how it should not be anonymous, but she can’t actually make it not be anonymous.

I have a suggestion.  Let there be sites where people can post anonymously, and sites where people have to give their names, and people can choose which sites they want to visit.  Actually, I’m still waiting for somebody to establish a site which insists that everyone who posts there learn how to spell and know the difference between your and you’re.  I’m not holding my breath, though.