© 1997 j-dom Media. Contact us!The Internet has been always been brandished as an example of what true freedom of speech can do. But what can it really do?
There have been many positive examples such as repressed peoples speaking out, political dissidents voicing their beliefs, victims getting support and open discussion on current affairs. Quite a bit of this has been down to the possibility of anonymity on the Net. For the Net to work properly it is not practicable to let people continue to be unaccountable through a cover of nameless messaging. Internet commerce and many other opportunities will never be realised until we can be digitally authenticated as being who we claim to be.
The endless optimism some are offering, though all good and well, needs a bit of realism before the dream is unrecoverably damaged. Sure, there have been good examples of what 'free' speech online offers. But now lets look at the bad.
Take a look, if you dare in Part 2.
