You shag one goat...

Anonymous.

As a group it is the name of a crowd of computer hackers with a social conscience that also carry the neologism ‘hacktivists’. They’ve hit the headlines in New Zealand recently having hacked into several National Party websites in protest at the controversial GCSB Bill, but that isn’t what this post is about. It isn’t the action of this group that is my focus, rather the anonymity that the internet has afforded them. As a tool, the internet has massive potential for the sharing of ideas and information. It has given many an avenue of self-expression hitherto unknown in human history and like many new tools, it is prone to abuse by… well, tools.

The internet doesn’t ask many questions about identity. When creating an internet persona, it won’t ask you for proof of ID such as a passport, drivers licence or copy of a bill with your address on it such as you’d have to provide to satisfy the bank that you’re not really Fred West when you apply for a loan. Anyone with access to a computer can create a facebook account or email address with any name on it they like. For a start this has enabled people to realise the potential silliness of creating pages for their animals: I recently discovered a Lady-Penelope von Knockwurst, which is a miniature dachshund and I once created one for a small chicken I found in my driveway named Rubina. For all the capacity of the creation of levity, there is also a sinister side to internet anonymity, specifically anonymous trolling. For the uninitiated, trolling is the activity of deliberately riling someone on the internet for the troll’s own entertainment, which they can do behind pseudonyms or even without naming details. The notion of electronic bullying seems like a harmless enough idea – after all, sticks and stones, it isn’t face to face and no-one is physically hurt by it. Well, it isn’t that simple. True, at it's most harmless trolls can mock quite deserving targets, such as The Pakeha Party, but at its worst trolling can be reckless and dangerous and have the most serious of consequences.

This is Amanda Todd who committed suicide because of
constant bullying arising from the actions of a troll who
published photos of her flashing her breasts at a camera.
She was 15. There are myriad of other high profile
examples and thousands that will go unreported.

Why can’t the victims just turn off their computers and it will just go away? There are a number of compelling reasons why it is just as serious as face to face bullying. Let’s take for an example a teenager today. At no time in their life has there not been an internet. They have been encouraged to get online and do things including the creation of their on-line persona in the form of their pages on social media sites. It is as much a part of them as the way they are perceived face to face. Their emotions are vested in the impression their facebook and twitter accounts creates. When someone mounts an attack on their facebook profile, be under no illusion that it is a personal attack. Another compelling argument is that once something is on the internet, it is next to impossible for it to be removed. There have been documented cases where teenagers have been victims of personal information or compromising images of themselves being published online for anyone in the world to access. Copying this information and these images is as easy as ‘right-click and save image as’. I just wrote that removing information from the internet is next to impossible, I think I actually mean it is impossible and bullies and the targets of this bullying know this. And then there’s the point that teenagers will not turn off the computer and walk away. The internet is such a necessary tool these days that information put on the internet will follow them forever such as when they apply for jobs and their prospective employer Googles them or when their family go to look them up. It cannot be underestimated the potential harm involved in cyber-bullying. Some cases have resulted in self-harm and even suicide by the victim. It is that serious.

Artists impression of poor old Spiros.

Who are the bullies? That’s a bloody good question. You see, with the freedom of anonymity comes a lack of accountability for a person’s actions. The troll can insult, defame and gloat with impunity and there is virtually no way for the victim to find out the true identity of their tormentor. The only tag a troll leaves is their IP address, a series of numbers that identifies only the computer it comes from. Under the rules of evidence, knowing the IP address wouldn't be enough to secure a conviction as it would have to be proven who was using the computer at the time. Let’s also have a quick look at what recourse a victim has: Let’s say for example that a troll creates a Facebook page suggesting the victim, who we’ll call Spiros, once shagged a goat. The page 'Spiros is a Goat-Shagger' goes up on Facebook and Spiros finds out about it. Spiros can request the originator of the page to take it down, but what would be the odds? Spiros can complain to Facebook, but if the page does not fall outside Facebook’s terms of use, then they are not obliged to remove it. What can Spiros do next?  From there the only thing Spiros can do is lodge a defamation action through the courts which could take as long as two years to be heard and cost Spiros tens of thousands in legal fees. In all this time, poor old Spiros is being maligned as a goat shagger and there is nothing he can do until the government passes draft legislation recommended by the Law Commission.

Incidentally, I searched to see whether spirosthegoatshagger.com existed and so far it doesn’t (yet).

... and we fuck goats.

So anonymity is a wide-ranging cloak that is being used for all sorts of nefarious activities on the internet. My assertion is that anonymity is the cloak of a coward. If a person has a view, they should have the stones to front up and voice their opinion. I think it carries a greater measure of credibility for someone to use their name and be accountable for their actions. Pouring a metaphorical bucket of shit over someone on the internet while hiding behind the name anonymous is… well, you’d be a bit of a goat-shagger wouldn’t you?