Property News · February 14, 2021

Anonymity acts as a shield for bigotry – if you don’t believe me, ask Schopenhauer | Tim Adams


A man should be answerable for his public proclamations, wrote the German philosopher 170 years ago. If only he could run TwitterOne of the dubious freedoms that the profit-making prophets of social media have always defended is the liberty to say anything anonymously. Some argue that “right” protects the vulnerable and marginalised. Overwhelmingly, however, experience suggests anonymity more often acts as a shield for misogyny, racism and threats of violence – such as those which continue to flood the accounts of black footballers.In the never-ending calls for Twitter to better police its platform, the words of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer from 170 years ago remain relevant: “Every article, even in a newspaper, should be accompanied by the name of its author… so that when a man publicly proclaims through the far-sounding trumpet of the newspaper, he should be answerable for it, at any rate with his honour, if he has any; and if he has none, let his name neutralise the effect of his words… the result of such a measure would be to put an end to two-thirds of the newspaper lies, and to restrain the audacity of many a poisonous tongue.” Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Anonymity acts as a shield for bigotry – if you don’t believe me, ask Schopenhauer | Tim Adams

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