If anonymity is promised, then anonymity should be maintained. But self-sock-puppetry is so destructive to on-line discourse and so valueless that I think in future I may make it a part of my terms of service that the penalty for sock-puppetry may be the revocation of your anonymity.
* You want to have multiple pseudonymous accounts? Fine. * You want to use more than one profile to comment in the same thread? Rarely will this be allowed, and the penalty could be the relationship between the accounts is exposed. * Your multiple personas have fake conversations with each other or participate in the same thread to advocate or attack a position or other commenter? You could be outed to the fullest extent possible. Full doxing.
As long as you're up-front about this, I think it would maintain a commitment to valuable anonymous discourse without having to tolerate some of the mendacious bullshit that can come with it.
I nominate Eben Moglen: founder of the Software Freedom Law Center, former council of the Free Software Foundation, programmer. He has been warning for years that you cannot trust the "cloud" and you should keep your data locally where the 4th amendment still has some force.
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Re: Sock Puppetry
If anonymity is promised, then anonymity should be maintained. But self-sock-puppetry is so destructive to on-line discourse and so valueless that I think in future I may make it a part of my terms of service that the penalty for sock-puppetry may be the revocation of your anonymity.
* You want to have multiple pseudonymous accounts? Fine.
* You want to use more than one profile to comment in the same thread? Rarely will this be allowed, and the penalty could be the relationship between the accounts is exposed.
* Your multiple personas have fake conversations with each other or participate in the same thread to advocate or attack a position or other commenter? You could be outed to the fullest extent possible. Full doxing.
As long as you're up-front about this, I think it would maintain a commitment to valuable anonymous discourse without having to tolerate some of the mendacious bullshit that can come with it.
Needs a lawyer
I nominate Eben Moglen: founder of the Software Freedom Law Center, former council of the Free Software Foundation, programmer. He has been warning for years that you cannot trust the "cloud" and you should keep your data locally where the 4th amendment still has some force.