The Huffington Post, reportedly, will soon do away with the option of anonymous commenting on its website. Justifying the change, Huffington herself cited the aggressiveness and ugliness of internet trolls and apparently argued that free speech rights essentially should not be extended to individuals who have not submitted to some kind of vetting process. From the
Boston Globe:
The days of anonymous commenting on The
Huffington Post are numbered. Founder Arianna Huffington said in a
question-and-answer session with reporters in Boston Wednesday that the
online news site plans to require users to comment on stories under
their real names, beginning next month.
“Freedom of expression is given to people who stand up for what they’re saying and not hiding behind anonymity,” she said. . . .
This last statement is highly offensive, no? Freedom of expression is not "given" or granted to anyone, it is a human right. I guess Huffington would have told the authors of the Federalist Papers to take a hike.
No comments:
Post a Comment