Anonymity - what of hiding behind a mask?

Blogging about blogging is something of a faux pas but I feel there is a debate to be had nonetheless...

In the past fortnight much has been made, in North Wales at least, about a blog called Thoughts of Oscar.

Operating for some years the author was anonymous to many if not all and was responsible for several interesting stories about North Wales politics, businesses and individuals.

Because the author was anonymous they had free reign to post whatever they liked regardless of the facts, often relying on simple hearsay or circumstantial evidence. "Oscar" posted some incredibly vitriolic remarks regarding not only my own paper - The North Wales Weekly News -  but also councillors, assembly members and business owners.

Roughly six weeks ago the site hosted an open letter to Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb making several allusions as to his pro-Israel stance.

Mr Bebb took exception to it, branded it libellous and had his lawyers demand the letter be taken down.

Now the blog has closed down, seemingly for good, with Llandudno newsagent owner Nigel Roberts outing himself as the sole person responsible for the blog just hours before Guto Bebb MP used parliamentary privilege to name him and Dylan Moore as being two of three people behind the blog.

Mr Moore, and his business partner David Jones MP, have both denied authorship in the strongest terms and Mr Bebb has since retracted his claim and will look to set the parliamentary record straight.

For this one extinct North Wales blog anonymity provided a veil to hide behind and make accusations. But it's not one blog, it's also a veil for thousands of others on the Internet.

 Anonymity provides protection, but at what cost?

A good thing?
The Internet is a dangerous tool when it comes to privacy. Not only is it used to spy on hundreds of millions of people (something that was exposed by an incredibly non-anonymous Edward Snowden), but it is also used by even more people to broadcast their breakfast, travel plans, shopping habits and more.

But if one knows it well enough, you can easily keep your identity hidden, to both great and terrible ends.

The main thing anonymity does is free you from a fear of reprisals. This is crucial when it comes to public servants blowing the whistle on poor services or otherwise. As a journalist I can appreciate the anonymous tip off as much as anyone.

Wikileaks takes great advantage of anonymous leaks of information to expose illegal or illicit practices in some of the biggest companies around the world.

Of course it's impossible to have a discussion on this subject without mentioning the self-titled hacking group Anonymous. Their methods may be seen as sinister but some of their targets, including Scientology, the Westboro Baptist Church and others, are considerably more so.

"Trolling"
Of course, there is another side to the coin.

I'm yet to meet a person under the age of 25 who does not despise the term "trolling" when it comes to online bullying, racism and sexism. On Twitter at least all three are rampant with celebrities, especially footballers it would seem, frequently the subject of abuse.

Trolling, as a term, not only seems inadequate but also childish. Nonetheless it is firmly a part of online lexicon now.

A few of the "trolls" get caught, fewer still get custodial sentences for their barbaric, hateful language. But it's not individual cases which alarm me, it's the sheer frequency of it.

Almost every celebrity could label themselves a victim of it to a certain degree, be it as "light-hearted" as Gary Lineker being faced with "shat on pitch" several dozen times over on every tweet or Mario Balotelli being racially abused or even Jennifer Lawrence, the victim of a spiteful, misogynstic - and so far anonymous - hacker.

Who would have thought 14 years into the 21st century such anti-tolerance would still be so prevalent. What does it say of our society? Anonymity, used as a shield for so many, darkens the mirror in which we view ourselves.

There can be no doubt anonymity provides these vile people with a feeling of safety, just as it does with those who do blow the whistle or who do expose greats wrongs being befouled upon our society.

An endless circle?
While "Oscar" was circling the plug hole already several copycat blogs had cropped up, all trying to emulate him. Within days I myself was being targeted from a self-styled Mr Llandudno on Twitter who took umbrage with my reporting of the furore surrounding the blog. I'm not sure if the irony was as apparent to him as it was to me.

If pornography and vocal extremism is the price we pay for free speech, "trolling" might just be the price we pay for anonymity.

In the greater scheme of things anonymity on the Internet is not going anywhere, with just a few clicks anyone can set up an email address and therefore a new Twitter account. A blog is perhaps even easier. And once you've done that there is no limit to how far peoples views can be spread.

Harsher sentences on those caught is not the answer, to be perfectly honest I'm not sure what is. But anonymity and freedom on the web is going to be a big battleground in the next decade.