Tuesday, February 02, 2010



Anonymous internet comments made illegal

So far only in South Australia but I expect the Democrats will seize on this idea within 12 months -- ready for the mid-terms?
"South Australia has become one of the few states in the world to censor the internet. The new law, which came into force on January 6, requires anyone making an online comment about next month's state election to publish their real name and postcode. The law will affect anyone posting a comment on an election story on The Advertiser's AdelaideNow website, as well as other Australian news sites. It could also apply to election comment made on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The law, which was pushed through last year as part of a raft of amendments to the Electoral Act and supported by the Liberal Party, also requires media organisations to keep a person's real name and full address on file for six months, and they face fines of $5000 if they do not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.

Attorney-General Michael Atkinson denied that the new law was an attack on free speech. "The AdelaideNow website is not just a sewer of criminal defamation, it is a sewer of identity theft and fraud," Mr Atkinson said. "There is no impinging on freedom of speech, people are free to say what they wish as themselves, not as somebody else."

The Advertiser's editor, Melvin Mansell, said: "Clearly this is censorship being implemented by a government facing an election. "The effect of that is that many South Australians are going to be robbed of their right of freedom of speech during this election campaign. "The sad part is that this widespread suppression is supported by the Opposition. "Neither of these parties are representing the people for whom they have been elected to govern."

Source

People often have good reasons for anonymity. For instance: Known supporters of California's successful Proposition 8 (banning homosexual marriage) were subsequently harassed and attacked by homosexuals. A ban on anonymity could therefore have a VERY chilling effect on free speech.

Update:

Public outcry has caused a complete backdown

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

They have taken a giant step toward tyranny. Of course they can explain it as a simple desire to keep the conversation civil because people will be more polite if they post under their own name but the reality is that the government want to know who to punish for criticizing it.

Anonymous said...

Just give the AG's name and address when posting, put the blame there.

Anonymous said...

Once again we see proof that in spite of the false image they project, the only freedom those on the Left care about is their own. It's a tactic that has always worked well for them, especially with people who are incapable of thinking for themselves.

Anonymous said...

The Iron Grip of Government squeezes tighter. But the tighter they squeeze, the more that slips through their fingers. How extreme will they have to get to actually make people obey this law?

George Washington
Mount Vernon, VA

Anonymous said...

How extreme will they have to get to actually make people obey this law?

I guess the fascists won't have to make the people obey. They will
just go for ISP's and sites daring to post the unauthorised messages.

Anonymous said...

So now you have to post full personal details on a website to prevent identity theft?
Weird way of doing that, anonymity is one of the few ways to actually prevent identity theft after all.

Nutcase said...

You guys just don't understand the loving intent of this law. We (your rulers) always have your best interest at heart.

You are free...

Free to agree with me! ;)

Remember, fear this statement:

"I'm from the government, I'm here to help!"

Anonymous said...

The people who are smart enough to value the right to anonymous speech need to stop helping the other people breed so much.

Anonymous said...

The interesting quote from the article is this one:

"The SA law - which could also apply to talkback radio - differs from federal legislation, which preserves the right of internet users to blog under a pseudonym."

This is different than here in the US where the Federal law and Constitution trumps local laws.

Anonymous said...

"They will just go for ISP's and sites daring to post the unauthorised messages."

How will they do that if people use falsified information? When they figure out people are doing that, then the tyrants will just ratchet things up even higher.

George Washington
Mount Vernon, VA
(not)

Anonymous said...

How will they know if you use false info?

Maybe they'll use a WiFi chip implanted in your brain wired to a cyanide capsule?

Anonymous said...

It should come as no surprise that the Left has been trying to find a way to "quietly" get control of the internet. Their intent is, as usual, obvious. To silence all those who disagree with them. In fact, it's one of their top priorities whether it's education, labor, talk radio, the newspapers, or TV. The internet is about the only place left where they don't have control, which should tell you that they won't stop trying.

Bobby said...

This is a disaster, without anonymity you're gonna have to check your spelling, grammar, and write as if your boss was going to read what you wrote

Anonymous said...

"How will they know if you use false info?"

Don't worry. It'll be obvious. There will suddenly be quite a lot of M. Mouse's commenting. Maybe even a few more creative names like Mr. P. Marxthspot or Ms. A. Nonymouse.

Even less obvious pseudonyms will be used too. Some will be names that sound legit but don't actually exist. Others will be a real person, but not the poster's real name or postal code. These will be discovered when the government tries to act against a poster who decides to remain anonymous or deliberately get someone else into trouble.

When the government finally realizes the purpose for the law isn't being realized, it will try to "fix" the problem by adding more and more tyranical regulations, though I doubt it could reach a WiFi Cyanide Capsule stage.

Signed,
George Washington
Mount Vernon, VA
(not)

Stan B said...

There is little chance of this happening in the States because of the long tradition of "anonymous" speech being "free" speech.

The constitutional debates themselves were carried out under pseudonyms -

Constitutional Debates Pseudonyms

For the Supreme Court to rule that being anonymous in your speech is not a basic part of Free Speech would be to destroy 240 years of Tradition.

Anonymous said...

Stan,

This was in Australia, not the U.S. While the legalities and history are different, the principles are still true there.

Signed,
George Washington
Mount Vernon, VA
(not)

Anonymous said...

All they need do is require you to sign in with your email address before commenting. They then send you an email with a code giving you access to post a comment. It's already being done by many of news sites. Of course, once they have your correct email, they have you.

Anonymous said...

"Of course, once they have your correct email, they have you."

Top three results of a search:

http://anonymous.to/

http://mutemail.com/

http://theanonymousemail.com/


George Washington
Mount Vernon, VA
(not)

Anonymous said...

They've done this so the SS knows exactly who to look for and where. Get ready, USA, you're next.

Anonymous said...

"Of course, once they have your correct email, they have you."

Not really. Just use an alternate email address that has no personal ties to you, like gmail, yahoo, etc.

Anonymous said...

Do they track/record IP addresses too? If so, using an anonymous or bogus email address would be difficult, but if not, that's the way to go. Something like "blowme@yahoo.com" would be appropriate. Or "libssuck@gmail.com." The possibilities are endless.

Anonymous said...

There are also proxies that let you hide your IP address.

George Washington
Mount Vernon, VA
(not)