Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Hmm …

… NYT Is Threatening My Safety By Revealing My Real Name, So I Am Deleting The Blog | Slate Star Codex. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

1 comment:

  1. Holy s-t! The doxxing of an anonymous blogger is dangerous, unethical, and furthermore serves fascism all over the world. The very idea that the NYT, and others, is doing this as a matter of policy, will send many people, who must remain anonymous or die, way into the shadows, unable to communicate to the world, and terrified because of what they've shared online already. Many would be killed or imprisoned -- and I say this to be over and above people having professional or personal reasons for wanting to remain anonymous in a blog. If there is a guy who has to take down his blog for professional reasons, then there are those, who cannot take back an anonymous article, placed in danger.

    A search for "bloggers" at the Reporters Without Borders site yields over a thousand results: RSF.org: "blogger". These are examples of people who were either doxxed or would have been better off for their own safety, being anonymous while expressing themselves.

    It's kind of like NYT having a policy of giving the old identities of people under witness protection. Suddenly, no one is safe, who cut such a deal. Some will be gunned down like an episode of Ozark.

    There are layers to this as well. A blogger may be anonymous in order that her contributors feel safe with their anonymities. So, Jane Doe's blog refers to or has a contributing article from John Smith. If you want to find out who John Smith really is, then lean on Jane Doe -- except who is Jane Doe? Because of this cover, John Smith felt free to contribute.

    Reporters Without Borders, understanding the importance of having anonymous blogs in the first place, shows people how to start them: Create your own blog, remain anonymous and get round censorship!. A huge problem with that idea now, is that an organization with the resources of the NYT is working on exposés as a matter of policy.

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