Tech-savvy users- and that includes nearly everyone under the age of 30 (and a significant proportion of the under 90′s) can easily post, comment, abuse anonymously if they so wish.
Many teenagers will have multiple e-mail accounts, social media accounts, etc. One which easily identifies themselves and others for anonymous purposes.
IP address tracking can be easily subverted and is used regularly by those pirating on to sites for movies, TV on-demand so that the website “sees” them as a US or UK user – by using hijacked servers as a proxy.
The only way of forcing identification would be by credit card (as a user above pointed out) or a passport number. However, if the government (which could not do this unilaterally) were to force social media sites such as facebook to require credit card numbers, etc., then there would be a mass migration to another social media site which did not require such identification.
The governments around the world would be forever chasing new social media sites springing up quicker than any civil servant or ISP could react – to block them if they did not comply.
A very good example is the current attempts to block pirate bay – completely futile. As soon as the ISPs around Europe block one IP address, the site springs up under a new IP address within hours. I went looking for the site a few days ago, and it took me no more than 5 minutes of googling to find the latest address for the site.

As usual with technology, our political representatives know little or nothing about what they are talking about. Any attempt would be futile, unenforceable and would require the cooperation of hundreds of governments around the world. When it came to online piracy, that cooperation only came with the “stick” of lawsuits from the multi-billion euro entertainment industry. What chance would this initiative have ?

None.

It amazes me how quick the Government can move when it effects themselves. What about all the people affected by bullying and crying help for years?

Online privacy is a myth. You might think you are posing anonymously, but the reality is everything you do online can be traced back to you.

Should social media users be able to vote in online polls anonymously?

As a regular writer with outspoken views on some thorny issues, I get a hell of a lot of abuse, usually on my twitter account, almost invariably from anonymous accounts. Some post on my blog, some on my Irish Times / journal pieces – I even had one case where a person with the same bloody IP address was behind 15 different accounts and even emailed my boss from a fake account.

Yet not for ONE second would I recommend banning anonymous accounts; first off, it’s impossible to verify most times whether an account is ‘real’ or fake – some are more obvious than others but I could claim to be Darren Reginald Grimwald and change my fb / twitter account to that and people would be none the wiser. An abusive troll can do the same; they’re still real, but you have no way of knowing if the details they supply are. Second off, who would regulate this? Some people post anonymously for a variety of legitimate reasons. Or have their identity known only to the editor etc .

But the reason issue here is that free speech also means that people can say dickish things – they always have, and they always will. We also have the right to judge people who say dickish things as dicks. I’ve written on this before here – http://3menmakeatiger.blogspot.ie/2012/09/does-it-offend-you-voltarian-principle.html

Also, bullying is the issue here – if we want to help victims, we need to realise it is the abuse and not the medium which is the problem and address that. One idea, however, is too minimise loutish behaviour by having sites like the journal insist on an individual log in identity rather than just using a twitter / FB profile which are easier to spoof. That way, repeatedly abusive individuals could be blocked from an IP basis. However, proxy servers are easy to find and a determined troll with just get around it!

I can’t stand it when I like something or comment on a group on Facebook, and then it pops up in EVERYONE ELSE’S newsfeed. Not everyone needs to know that I liked a photo of a cat saying “can I haz cheezburger.”

A bit of privacy would be great.

You are all forgetting that this debate has come about because the Govt has decided that Shane McIntee killed himself due to social media bullying. THEY decided. There is no proof. There is only speculation. There is no mention of him being bullied within the party to vote against his conscience. This is yet another diversionary tactic so we stop talking about the real issues like 1. Our Govt are not representing us, they represent the bankers. 2. We are paying back money that we don’t owe. 3. They have given away €1 trillion of our natural resources for nothing. 4. They are selling off our national assets to help pay their wages and pensions.

Can we please return to the main issues and not get sucked in to these ridiculous debates?

Which would you rather? A regulated internet, or a free internet? The people who should regulate whats going on, are the parents of victims of cyber bullying, when and as it happens, not the government.

Politicians don’t seem to get it that it’s impossible to regulate the Internet and social media nationally.

What about international websites or users from overseas that legislation or regulations won’t apply to?

if you are going to have a go at someone the very least you should do is leave your name .otherwise its just a form of bullying

There is no way to enforce such a law. If someone wishes to remain anonymous online, it’s an easy task. And where does it stop? Will condemnation for certain policies, or criticism be interpreted as “bullying”? The internet’s anonymity may have it’s drawbacks, but for the overwhelming majority – it’s been absolutely beneficial.

Think of places like Saudi Arabia, where criticism of Islam or Muhammad could result in the death penalty. Sometimes, the only place people there can vent and voice their opinion is on the internet. The same in Russia, where strict Government policies and corruption can only be discussed in whispers and on the internet. The internet allows people with embarrassing questions to ask about them in anonymity.

I post on here, facebook and on twitter under my real name. I have no problem with attributing my comments to my name. But once we start screening content on the internet, it’s a step towards an attack on freedom of speech and expression. A babystep is one step too far. We must be allowed to express ourselves in anonymity if we desire. If that expression includes harsh criticism, so be it.

Commenters may have personal experiences or knowledge that can inform public about, creating a form of collective intelligence. There is definitely a problem with people with chips on their shoulders muddying the debate.

If you have an opinion or conviction you want to state then putting a name to it and which city/town and country is fair enough. It is not as if you should be expected to reveal your E-Mail address/complete address in the public domain.

This is another misguided and ill-thought out move from a knee jerk reaction to Shane McEntee’s suicide.

Without saying some of what could be interpreted as hiding behind a free speech argument……

Enforcing such controls ignore the fact that a single event cannot be blamed in a suicide. The issue is about internet abuse and the answer is to identify everyone who makes a comment.

In using identification (which can be easily bypassed) we expose ourselves to becoming a target. For an example, take a look at the reasons why the Guy Fawkes mask has become the “face” of Anonymous. I’m not asking you to like that group – just the reasons why they initially protected their identity.

There is value in being able to comment anonymously – a lot of it. I know we’re not talking about abuse when we talk about comments. But you are if EVERYTHING you post everywhere has your name on it. Do you want your position on all sorts of issues being looked at by a prospective employer for one of your interviewers to decide you’re not the person for the job because you support an unpopular position?

That’s where this heads.

I’m not trying to be flippant about abuse but the option of being identified means that the very people with challenging and valid perspectives are encouraged to be silent on their opinions.

If you havn’t got the balls to say something to a persons face then don’t hide behind a false name and keyboard.
A huge amount of government supporters springing up of late with twitter and facebook accounts just set up.

Personally, I’m of the mind that if you have something to say in public, you should say it with your name behind it. If it’s something that you need to be anonymous about (eg whistle blowing) then speak to a reputable third party who’ll speak on your behalf sourcing you.

If you’re libelling, bullying, belittling, trolling or generally giving out while hiding behind your “anonymity”, the community should be able to pull the curtain back to see who it is speaking, and let that person defend what he/she says.

One may not be entirely fee to comment openly for fear of repercussions from employers or clients etc.

I don’t see how they could enforce a real names policy in a practical manner across the whole web. Even individual sites with “real names” policies, such as facebook and G+, can’t manage it, and their policies are actually only “real sounding names” anyway.

There are two sides to this story, there is the real issue of people WHO have to hide behind sudo names to protect their own lives or identity of others, yet the story needs to be told to a greater audience, and then there are the internet trolls who have infested the forums to do more damage than good. There was always a troll or two on the old bulletin boards and chatrooms but were there for fun and games.

The government use the roman rule of divide and conquer,and as soon as the people get a platform to communicate, they try to cut them off at the pass…
Make no mistake about it, they only worry that people might get organised and they might lose control…
Its all smoke and mirrors with them.
Dont let them beat us down with their spin doctors and usual bullshit.

The reason we have free speech is not to idle the time away. It is the way in which we test ideas, so we can improve our society. The most important ideas to express are unpopular ones, whether they are right or wrong.

Anonymity helps those ideas to get out. In that sense, it’s a good thing.

Take a view which is popular now – that gay people should be able to marry each other. If you posted that 15 years ago under your real name, the possibility of it damaging your job prospects was very real. In an ideal world, people would have said it anyway. In our less than ideal world, it was surely a good thing that people could make the argument under the cover of a pseudonym.

Some common opinions today will be judged completely wrong 20 years from now too.

Bullying is a separate issue. You can use anonymity to bully, but just as often the bullies are in plain sight. Banning pseudonyms misses the point, just as much as banning the Internet would miss the point.

To be a “bully” one must hold some kind of power or authority over someone, be that physical strength or emotional or other. Without such power they are just a nuisance not a bully.

Its a tough one. As much as social media can be a beacon to anyone who wants to have a go it can also be a tool for great help and healing.

I know personally I have found the fact I could log onto the net under an assumed name and talk about personal issues to be a life saver. I only did that because I knew I could “talk” freely without being identified. Without that security I think a lot of people who reach out online for support would be unable to access that vital support they need.

I wonder is WHAT is posted the problem rather than the annonymity. Personal attacks should be out, though I did note watchin ‘inside the cowen government’ last night that the general media continuously had a go at his appearance. I prefer to be annonymous so my opinions don’t go against me in things like job interviews. I’m making the assumption they won’t be tracing my ip address.

Anybody that puts their personel details on the interweb is a fool. These kids that are being bullied online shouldnt be on Facebook in the first place.

The government were quick to block file sharing websites to appease multi million dollar industries, it’s a real pity they’re not as swift to block websites like askfm.com, then again it’s not as if they put much value on the life of a child.

I would say yes and no. Yes to anon posts but details should be held by the site you are posting on. There should be an audit trail somewhere for situations like cyber bullying.

There’s no such thing as true online anonymity. You may be getting away with it now, but it doesn’t last forever. The problem is at the moment only a select few people have the ability to trace abusive comments back to a particular person, and even fewer will do anything about it.

The sooner everyone is held to account for what they say online, the better. But that won’t happen until the fallacy of online privacy is realised and more websites force their users to have their personal details associated with everything they say.

Everybody who engages on i net has to deal with bullying and abusive comments at some stage or another . i get it regularly ,people who I have never met making assumptions of the kind of person I am and frankly I coulld not give a shit. The beautiful thing is that there is a thing called log out and delete account for me if I find it going overboard . This is much more than meets the eye ,he didn’t take his life because of FB comments there definitely more going on and maybe the government are using it as an excuse to take control of social media because we are a small country .

99% of the people who post anonymously do so because they are not confident enough about their position (but are not too bright and want to state it anyway), represent a group with a financial interest and are trying to sway public opinion and wish not to reveal that fact, or are just trolling (acting like a child trying to illicit a response for their own amusement). If you have a view or opinion you should stand over it, not hide behind an online moniker.

They want to find out who is writing about them and ask them to stop telling truth about FG/FF and Labour.

I think there are better ways of going about resolving the public/private “issue” than full identity disclosure.

In fact I think full identity disclosure would probably be opening a massive barrel of snakes.

There is a legal storm coming and the damage it might do if silence of lambs is made happen, will possibly bring about in time further eventual suspicious political and self-gain dealings, law breaking and double-standards from elected representatives who will then think they can further get away with more, knowing the routes that some people are only able to use already to publicise and expose them, will be further restricted and their exposure will thus be much, much less! The less they are exposed, the more they might try getting away with?…Just as they would want it?

Given that Fianna Fail might have their own skeletons in the closets still, they more than likely will side with the government and see that a crackdown of speech is continued in its clever spun way. They too will possibly agree with the forth coming crackdown on the liberties of the Irish people – for they have much to lose too and maybe more to gain also they might hope, in future upon their too eventual re-election!

It should be further noted that the ability to post and inform anonymously greatly helps people to inform others, for example; about possible terrorist activities and enhances their ability to say to the world how much they might abhor such activity supposedly done in their name. Take away the ability to be anonymous and a government is in reality, possibly also putting many lives at risk as enemies of those that wish to speak out, are then sought out, beaten into silence, punished by weapon use or even killed! Its food for thought!

Where was the rush for legislation after the sad deaths of young girls of Ireland who unfortunately were bullied into taking their lives because of on-line postings? Where was the sudden committee meetings organised over them? They didn’t happen! Instead, now that one demised Fine Gael TD has sadly taken his life, leaving behind his wife and kids to fend for themselves, the government of the day is only now rushing to see changes in the law, in a dead mans wake. There was NO rush previously!

The state is using the latest sad and unfortunate passing to their advantage for by attempting to totally silence anonymous posts and possibly inclusive informative information, they seek to stop those that might further expose their daily activities that they would not wish the public to know about! A form of Chinese state internet censorship is rolling down hill towards the people of Ireland.

I polled, I don’t know and in a straight forward world would without doubt vote NO but as it is obvious our Elected Representatives seldom if ever actually call the shots: I would reserve that decision until the nameless, faceless people behind the pens be as accountable as myself for their actions; I would have to border on a YES vote.

Annonymity in its own right is ok it is when people who post start abusing it and we have all seen the result of this there’s people posting who would never post if they had to use their real name who are not happy untill they are abusing others so for that reason annoynmity must and should go

do not feed ye trolls. a) Facebook should never be considered private, there are always ways and means off accessing it and b) anonymous comments will lead to bullying and abuse.
if you want to post something, be an adult and live with the fact that your real name goes with it
signed: anonymity

In many cases it is far better to have anonymous registrations in social media and commenting.
It protects kids if they join websites away from their immediate circle – they cannot be traced to their real identity.
Better for kids to have their own identity for close friends and an anonymous identity for outside of that. The recent links to suicide over social media are because they are exposed as their own identity directly. This would not happen if they were not forced to use their real identities to login and join or comment which has only been forced on websites in recent years.

Comment trolling is one thing but you are forgetting the serious trolls that follow users back to their real identities on facebook and target them personally afterwards. This far more serious. And if they could comment anonymously this would not happen.

FYI my name isn’t Marko Burns, but I use the identity for commenting on posts. Just because you you an online identity doesn’t mean you are a troll.

A good excuse to control or oppress the citizens, most people can deal with insults by ignoring them and some politicians know the truth when spoken to them. I think people have become too sensitive, but there are bullies out there. Our education system, is failing the kids again and the parents need to be more demanding on that issue!

The Irish Government has about as much ability to control what goes on on the Internet as it has to impose a speed limit on the surface of Mars. Discussion over.

If you truly believe that what you are saying Is right there should be no problem signing your name to it . The problem is there are brainless trolls put in front of computers fed vile information to put on to social media sites this has to stop no one objects to debate it is healthy .

anonymously all the way for me. Just because I use a fake account doesn’t mean I do so to abuse someone, I use it because I’d rather have my say and no one know who I am. Anyway peoples views on things throughout their lives constantly change through knowledge. I could say something today and completely disagree with myself a year later. If I had a point to make using my real name people who know you never forget that.
On a similar note, I’d imaging the Journal comment moderator has some craic at times when they see the same ip address from different user accounts on this site. I’d love to be a journal comment moderator for a day.

Theres a popular forum which I am on when you post it is reviewed and only then will
appear online if for some reason it is rejected you will be informed by email would this not be a better system?

Can we look at opening up the courts too?

Far too many gagging orders issued, especially in cases which involve sex charges, and there is no good reason for family courts to be held in secret as long as the main parties can stay anonymous.

It is never anon all isp can supply the information required when hit with the write paperwork.

Firstly, get a committee that actually understands how social media works. Participants should be users. Looking at Tom Hayes on the news last night he looked very uncomfortable using the keyboard!! This committee could spend 6 months investigating Twister!!
If users were required to disclose their full details, these sites would be lonely places…

Very few people a ever truly anonymous online, whether we use our real names or a pseudonym the websites we post to, like thejournal.ie, will likely log our IP addresses. An IP address is like a label assigned to every device connected to the internet, your computer is automatically assigned an IP address by your internet provider. So if you were to do something illegal on a forum using an anonymous pseudonym you could be easily banned by your IP address or the gardai contacted and, through your internet provider, your IP address could be traced to your door.
There are already laws and provisions in place to combat illegal online activity, if these need to be modified then by all means do so. The public has a right to their online anonymity, in fact in most cases this is something that should be encouraged more so, we see far too many people giving away far too many details of every minute of their waking lives. Its this that poses a very real danger. When teenagers (and some adults too) use social media to tell the world every single thing they do and everywhere they go they can expose themselves and their property to the danger of criminals who will be happy to abuse their trust.
If I were to walk behind a person shouting abuse at them I could expect to be arrested, and rightly so. If I were to write that same abuse down and publish it in a newspaper I’d expect to have the gardai at my door, and rightly so. But just because I write the same abuse in a text message, e-mail or online forum I expect to get away with it, and, by and large, I will in Ireland today. This is the problem. I shouldn’t. There’s no reason why that text message can’t be traced to a phone number, or an e-mail traced to an IP address or a forum post to an IP address. Maybe the problem is that even if the laws are there, the gardai simply don’t have the technical manpower.

No enough bully boys and keyboard warriors already. At least have some identifying feature such as a name or photo so they can stand by their words.

Posting anonymously is a cop out. Be proud of what you have to say ,be seen to be proud of your point of view.

There should be three types commentator access on all online forums.
(1) Anon. (Ignoring Ip trace possibility – which will always be there)
Allow these in at your peril. All the nutters and trolls will appear here. Maybe ilegal for site to knowingly allow kids to access. Could be fun if you’re that way inclined?

(2) Name and address with editor.
For serious but possibly compromising discussion. Personal details protected by law – unless shown to be a law breaker by comments made.

(3) Fully Open.
For normal day to day discussion.
Safe but possibly boring.

Sites like The Journal / facebook/Twitter/could then allow the reader to filter by commenter types 1,2 or 3.
I’d be selecting 2 and 3 myself and maybe turn on 1 every now and again to see what the nutters are up to :)

Four young teens died and the “government” as represented by Shatter offered nothing. When a fellow party member appears to be the target/victim of online abuse the rules of the game are being looked at. I think this is clear enough for most posters of the “governments” motives.
Of course people should not hide behind user names that was the key thing famillies of victims of cyber-bullying where looking for.

90%of shinners have fake accounts and not willing to give there name this needs to stop if u are unable to put your name to an account well then the person must something to hide ??

Most people who comment on social media make good arguments/ opinions for or against whatever the subject is. Any abusive comments or personal attacks are moderated beforehand, people recognise the trolls,I choose to ignore them,I’m sure they find that realy annoying. I wonder WHY so many people are annoyed at this Govt. and their policies..? Their P.R. spin they constantly feed us about having courage to do the job,taking hard descisions etc etc. and the misery they have caused to the Irish people and now they want to censor what we say? The point is they don’t want to listen,can’t hear,won’t hear . They’ve taken just about everything else,but freedom of speech is our right in a so called democracy. What are the most recent statistics on Suicide? Calls to the Samaritans? Childline?St.Vincent De Paul, consequences and casualties of Govt.policies.

i am sorry that td committed suicide but i am sure what people post on these pages or email was not an influence, have a feeling he had other troubles,,, i had one lady attack me personally on this page and she bought up stuff that was on my page on facebook, which most is untrue,, its a bloody page,,, i did contact the journal and they did delete it,,, tg,, teens being bullied is very sad and ongoing, my daughter 17 came to me with a young lady that posted a lovely picture of herself, the comments that went on were cruel,, i do look at my daughters pages and phone, since i pay for it, its my responsibility as a parent to make sure all is ok, i do trust my daughter and know she would not get involved in online bullying or she would be cut off and phone taken,, but i do feel its a parents responsibility to check up on their kids, technology was not there when we were kids, and feel monitoring is the only way to help your child or teen

I believe that people are entitled to political discussion anonymously for the same reasons that we have a secret ballot.

Political discussion tests out and shares ideas and is an important social activity.

There is no reason why indvidiuals should have to have their identities known when they take part in it.

Get yr grubby compromised traitorous hands off our internet

http://www.barringtonkevin.blogspot.ie/2012/12/i-love-internet.html

Of course, newspapers rely on anonymous statements from TDs and their spindoctors all the time :(

The validity of a comment is directly proportional to the level of anonymity in my opinion. Social ‘media,’ is exactly that… just another medium for people to air their opinions. It’s no different than a face to face drunken chat in the smoking area of a pub or a hand written and signed letter and everything in between. If a comment is posted anonymously then I would say that it can’t have been felt that strongly about if the person didn’t even have the decency to stand by it with their name. There will always be an element of trolling online that will exaggerate or jump on bandwagons to create a reaction. Awareness that social media commentary comes with this is key.

People assign too much value to online comments due to the format they have been delivered in. The recent cases involving people taking their own lives are horribly tragic and I can’t imagine the horrible Christmases the respective families must have had. However, censorship is a dangerous thing. Spend any time in the US and you will see what control of media leads to… blinkered views and underlying messaging funded by hidden agendas. Social Media is here to stay. We need to educate ourselves to evaluate the level of significance we give to respective comments and realize that although something is written online it doesn’t mean it automatically has any more credence than pub talk or an badly thought out flyaway comment.

There are idiots in the world who make stupid comments both online and in many other ways. Bullying is the issue here- not the medium in which it is delivered.

The question that should be asked, Why keep the SOCIAL MEDIA user secret?? The answer is in the question. It’s a social media website, it helps people connect, it’s not meant to keep people secret. Keeping things secret only opens the door for abuse, like a thief in the dark. The only person who needs to keep their identity secret is a thief and robber or someone who is up to no good.

Why post anonymously? Have the courage of your’ convictions surely? The day of the anonymous bulletin board or forum is surely limited to certain, personal issues? Anonymously criticising anybody is cowardly in the extreme.

If you are going to comment either negatively or positively on a subject matter and you wish to remain unanimous, then I believe that you do not really have the belief or conviction of your own statements!

If your opinion, which you are very entitled to, is genuine and you are willing to stand by what you say, than there is NO NEED for anonymity. If you are not willing to stand by your opinions out in the open, then they should be kept to yourself, otherwise it’s completely pointless. Anonymity online has oven itself to be a dangerous force in the wrong hands, and the risk simply isn’t worth it. Not being able to be ‘anon’ doesn’t remove your right to an opinion or free speech, in fact, anonymity undermines these rights since opinions can’t be validated.

No. Because we have enough people committing suicide over cyber-bullying and anonymous question websites. Simple. Should anybody have something worthwhile to say they should not need to say it anonymously.

The journal should not allow nameless cowards to comment on any news story…..time to register with a laser or credit card on all sites.

If public figures can’t stand criticism from the public they should nt be public figures. Simple really.

In related news, the pillars of democracy China are taking action

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20857480