Reply #1: This is true [View All]

[merqz]

there are pluses and minuses to anonymous speech (or at least ASSUMED anonymous. The reality is that many people who think they are truly anonymous on the internet ... aren't), just as there are costs and benefits to free speech in general. We here in the US enjoy much freer speech than other nations, and thus the cost is more exposure to hateful speech. Many nations don't allow stuff like burning holy books, denying the Holocaust, using racist hate speech, etc. We do. Anonymous speech makes this even more blatant, because anonymity naturally opens people up to taboo behavior not just speech), and fortunately, openly racist speech is taboo in polite society.