The Courage of One's Convictions & Anonymity...

So much for only the one post in February!

I recently received an email from a dear friend and the unrelenting anonymous cyberbullying and cyberstalking that she is encountering on an hourly basis twenty-four hours per day. Why is this happening? For no other reason than holding an opinion different to those of the cyberbullies and being willing to share it with a view to ensuring that people are not only well-informed but to ensure that they are properly informed too.

The reality is that I cannot go into a whole lot of detail as the matter is subject to some real sensitive information. But, in a general sense I can get into the detail. In its most simple form, this is a case of one person blogging, social networking, and working under her real name and a host of pseudonyms and other anonymous posters attacking her on every front. In fact, it really is cyberstalking, wherever she goes these individuals are sure to follow.

And, this is the point of the title of this post. My personal opinion is that if you have the courage of your convictions and you truly and honestly believe in what you are standing for then you should feel the need for this to happen under your real name. If the pen-person-ship is ours then claim it as so.

The belief that you can remain anonymous and untrackable is a fallacy, particularly when you are making outlandish and absurd claims about government to government conspiracies, double-agents, and the sacrifice of insignificant individuals (in the sense that they are so unimportant in the big scheme of things that they warrant being thrust front and centre in this global conspiracy) to the alter of global politics.

Let's face it, when push comes to shove, governments have a lot of time and money to throw at uncovering who the anonymous and pseudonym-covered posters are. Unfortunately, the perfect laws are not in place in Australia to deter cyberstalkers and cyberbullies, but we will get there. Nevertheless, the reality is that defaming someone is defaming them and there are laws in place that can be used to see that it stops and that the perpetrators make their reparations to those that they injure.

I blog under my own name not because I want to be some sort of hero or because I want to throw caution to the wind and hell be damned, rather I blog under my own name because I believe in the things, the ideas, the views, and the issues that I talk about. I have the courage of my convictions and people don't doubt my passions or my beliefs (well, not all that often there are always cynics out there somewhere). If I have something to say about someone then I say it. It is that simple.

I am not going to spend 100s or 1000s of hours in compiling data to release a "Confidential - Not for Publication" report under a pseudonym and then publish it as widely as possible. Clearly, the report is neither confidential or not for publication, rather it is for public viewing and dissemination.

The truth is that if I believe in what I have researched and what is contained in the report is fact and beyond reproach then why not put my name to it. To suggest that the state will enter into a conspiracy with other states to silence me is delusional paranoia. Some more truth is that where the report attacks and defames an individual then there hardly seems the need for the paranoia. It is not as if the report is about the Head of State, is it?

To be clear, I do not have a problem with anonymous blogging or writing or doing these things under a pen name or the like. I do have a problem if one is trying to use anonymity and pseudonyms as a cover to attack, bully and harass people because they have a different view to your own.

What it the point of the post. Well, how can we expect to educate our children on the stupidity, silliness, inappropriateness, and danger of cyberstalking and cyberbullying when adults themselves cannot behave in appropriate ways and show good character? How do we expect to help our children develop honesty and integrity in an ever-increasing technological worlds when the role-models they see cannot do it for themselves.

It is time to leave the naivety behind as it relates to the dangers of cyberbullying and cyberstalking and start being truthful to ourselves and those that we care about.

Cyberbullying and cyberstalking is not on at any time, it is not welcome at any time, and it will never be a solution ever!

Those of you out there engaging in this atrocious behaviour, get over yourselves, get a life, and get on with living your own and leave the rest of us to do the things that need to be done. The stuff being written, spoken, shown and disseminated anonymously is nothing more than cowardice with a capital "C".

This 'information', in the weakest sense of the word, is being disseminated anonymously as the perpetrators are more worried about the "truth" of their allegations and the veracity of their allegations that they feel safer hiding behind the veil of anonymity. But rest assured it will not be long till that veil becomes sheer and your true identities will be uncovered, or unveiled perhaps.

Sweet dreams...

Thus endeth the sermon!

Treespotter: Anonymity and World Domination...

It is interesting to see interviews with anonymous people, particularly bloggers, become newsworthy. The Treespotter is certainly an anonymous blogger that is worthy of an interview of this kind.

I ummmed and ahhhhed about posting this only cause I did not want to seem like I was piggy backing on his fame. Yet, I like the man's work and I enjoy reading his views as he works on his plan of world domination.

Perhaps the "Puff Doggy" avatar by Daniel Peacock has more to do with the laid back plan of world domination than it does with anything else. According to the interview, but I knew this already, the "treespotting" moniker has to do with using trees as land marks or simply just as markers. The idea that a distinctive tree can guide you from place to place as you meander your way through this existence is an excellent one. As human beings we use markers all the time to measure and evaluate our progress.

It is also an apt choice because the Treespotter himself is a marker of sorts to many people. There are at least 13,000 Twitterers who use him as a marker for all things commentary on social, political, economic, technology and media issues.

So, it goes without saying that I subscribe to his blog and Twitter feeds. There is nothing quite like watching the to and fro on Twitter and other places once the Treespotter gets into the game.

The man has an innate ability to pose the real tricky questions, you know, the ones that everyone is thinking about but unsure of where or how to ask it. The man has no obvious fear of putting it out there. Yet, that is what probably attracts people, or "followers", to him. It is the idea that there is someone out there trying to "keep the bastards honest".

I once read a book, although I cannot remember the name of it, but the storyline is one where the world is run by this man who many people know, but nobody knows. To all intents and purposes a regular man with absolute power. I often remember that story line when I think of the Treespotter. I think I would be happy to live in a "treespotting" world.

How Anonymous Are You Really When You Blog?

Here is some food for thought for those of you out there, me included, who blog and say things that may or may not be considered defamatory.

A model, Liskula Cohen, has successfully sued Google for the name of an anonymous blogger who she alleges defamed her on a blog hosted by Google. The blog was called Skanks in NYC. The essence of the defamation case is that the anonymous blogger called Cohen a "skank" and an "old hag".

The anonymous blogger identified Cohen as the "skankiest in NYC". This was then followed with, "How old is this skank? 40 something? She's a psychotic, lying, whoring, still going to clubs at her age, skank." I am guessing that this does not leave much to one's imagination. Is it defamatory? On face value, probably.

However, there are defenses to defamation that if the decision survives appeal, assuming there is one, then the anonymous blogger would likely be arguing an extension of what the blogger's lawyer has put forward so far, namely: this was mere opinion and "trash talk" rather than any intent to defame. The extension here would be to argue that, in essence, what has been said is in fact true.

Judge Joan Madden has ruled in favour of Cohen and has ordered that Google must provide the name of the anonymous blogger. It is expected that the name of the anonymous blogger is to be revealed in court as a means of allowing Cohen to proceed with her defamation action against the currently anonymous blogger. According to Judge Madden the assertions made were that Cohen was sexually promiscuous and the accompanying photos on the blog bore this intent out sufficiently well.

Cohen's modelling career was seemingly cut short when she was glassed in 2007. The resulting injuries required 46 stitches to close the wounds. Cohen was glassed when she objected to some drunk bloke stealing a bottle of vodka off her table. The bloke decided his best course of action in response to this objection was to glass Cohen in the face. The bloke was sent to jail, and deservedly so.

The case is interesting because of the potential implications. These implications are that anyone who thinks they are blogging anonymously may not be so anonymous after all. There are undoubtedly many techno savvy individuals out there with the knowledge and means of ratcheting up their anonymity to make discovery of their true identities even more difficult or impossible.

I am not one of them. I have enough trouble just using the features of blogger to be worried about whether I am anonymous or not. That said, I am using my real name to blog. So, if I have defamed you then you know where I reside in cyberspace.

There is a belief that this decision will open the floodgates to litigation and defamation claims based on comments written online that people do not agree with. This would seemingly be the case.

It is worth noting that the blog in question was shut down in March of this year. The blog contained only five entries and all of them related to Cohen. My guess is that the anonymous blogger is likely someone she knows or someone she has had some acquaintance with. Alternatively, it is, or was, a cyber-stalker which is a scary thought.

Something for all you anonymous bloggers out there to consider is this statement from Google:

"We sympathise with anyone who may be the victim of cyber bullying. We also take great care to respect privacy concerns and will only provide information about a user in response to a subpoena or other court order." So, make sure you re-read the privacy statement from Google again if you thought what you clicked guaranteed your absolute privacy.

Food for thought.

Anonymous Blogging

This is an old topic but one that I think is worth revisiting!

I am an avid reader of Indonesia Matters and it must be noted that the webmaster is one who prefers to protect his true identity with the anonymous moniker of Patung. However, this is not about Patung or Indonesia Matters per se but rather Indonesia Matters is a place where many prefer to blog anonymously and it is where I have found a good reason why anonymity is not always a good thing!

I am also for free speech. My previous posts attest to this. I am also generally comfortable with anonymous blogging and anonymous writing. Some great literature has been penned under pseudonyms. I am against hate speech and I am against vilification...but that's just me.

I am for a person who has the courage of their convictions to identify themselves when they are advancing arguments that are on the fringes of current debate or where those arguments are outright racist or sexist or premised on distortion of evidence or merely based on anectdotal personal opinion that does not stand up to scrutiny.

I am for people entering into open and frank debate in order to seek solutions rather than merely attempting to inflame and exacerbate old and tired stereotypes! If we are to live in a world that is truly at peace and in harmony then we need to find solutions to those things that harm us!

Thus endeth the sermon!

Anonymity in the Blogosphere

It seems that my selection as ‘Blogger of the Week’ has triggered a bout of name calling from all sides of the debate about anonymity and blogging...By the way I am happy to have been chosen as a blogger of the week and I am happy that it has triggered the debate that it has!

Seeing it was this selection that started this off I want to add my “two bobs worth” to the argument!

I think that if people choose to blog anonymously then that is their right. I believe the ability to write anonymously is part of the free speech rights that we should all enjoy! However, it is a legal fact that free speech is not absolute nor is it free from limitations. It is these limitations that one must consider and an argument on point here relates to hate speech but here in lies the problem of anonymous writing and blogging — how do we as a free and democratic community hold those people accountable for their hate speech when we do not know who they are.

So in this regard there is some value in the arguments (the arguments themselves not necessarily in the manner in which they may have been made — but to each his own on this frint!) advanced. To this end I would have characterized my concerns with anonymous blogging not as cowardice but rather having the ‘courage’ of your convictions to enter into public debate and be exposed to the full glare of public scrutiny for the opinions that one holds.

Once again to each their own!

What is not in dispute here is the right to blog anonymously but rather how do we as a community hold those responsible who cross the line from simple inoffensive personal musings into areas where vilification, defamation, slander, and liable reside?

I appreciate that some people will trot out the reason that anonymity is critical because their topics of choice are sensitive and that they employ a lot of people or are responsible for their livelihoods and if this is your justification for remaining anonymous, then so be it! The Indonesian legal system has some really serious problems but it is not all gloom and doom on the fair trial front!

This argument considered has me thinking that I too am responsible for a lot of people’s livelihoods, mine included, but in that sense I am replaceable! My bosses might have a difficult time in finding someone but I am sure they could and would if they were required to. If the government or some other ‘big brother’ agency comes after me and boots me out of Indonesia after an inherently unfair trial because I am white, then as Ned Kelly is reported to have said “such is life”!

I am sure that the censorship police would have ways and means of uncovering my blogging identity even if I was publishing anonymously. There must be mechanisms in place that allow investigators to terrorise ISPs or whoever else keeps blogging data that would see me tracked from here to wherever.


Although when push comes to shove I think I would give a pretty good account of myself in an Indonesian court and my case (and hopefully the stars align in such a way that this hypothetical case never eventuates) might open the door to greater freedoms of speech in this developing democracy that is Indonesia. Maybe this would be enough to convince bloggers that threat of deportation or other negative impacts from holding certain opinions to reveal themselves in all their glory, so to speak!

But in any event what I do professionally can be done exclusively online so if the worst case scenario was every to happen then I could conceivably base myself just off Indonesia’s shores until such time as normality was restored!