CLASS EXERCISE---ANONYMITY APPLIED

Despite the recent trend of websites to adopt policies requiring a real name for online posters, the students were overwhelmingly opposed to such policies in principle and strongly favored the right to post anonymously online.  There was some sentiment, however, for the current state of the law that allows anonymity to be pierced in some situations pursuant to a court order.  To test the strength of  the students' views they were given a hypothetical based on an actual incident where in 2013 an anonymous poster on 4Chan's /b/ Random board perpetrated an internet hoax by encouraging young girls to cut themselves in protest of pop star Justin Bieber being seen smoking a marijuana joint.  The anonymous poster started a "#cutforbieber" hashtag which went viral on the internet and posted several graphic images of girls who purportedly cut their arms as part of the campaign.  The campaign and photos were later revealed to be a hoax and fortunately no girls actually cut themselves.  In the hypothetical presented to the students, however, several girls actually harm themselves and one dies.  In the hypothetical there is a resulting  public outcry and a call for the website involved to change its anonymous posting policy.  The hypothetical situation and the student response is set out below:
                                                        The Hypothetical
A group of 10-12 year old Justin Bieber fans, in response to the 4Chan hoax, cut themselves. Three girls are hospitalized and one dies.  The grieving fathers want to expose the anonymous person who perpetrated the hoax.  They hold a news conference and demand that you, as owner of the website, take the following actions:

1.  explain why you would allow your website to be used  by anonymous “animals” to  intentionally prey on impressionable young girls; and

2.  change your policy and require everyone to establish an account using a real name so wrongdoers may be held accountable.

The media are at 4Chan's corporate headquarters waiting for your response and the CEO has tasked you with drafting a written statement to be issued.

The students were broken into two groups and given 20 minutes to draft  a written statement for the media.
                                                  Group one's statement

We are deeply troubled about this incident and send our sincere condolences to the victims and their families.  In response to recent concerns about the function of our website, we would like to address the importance of freedom of speech, particularly anonymous speech, which is protected under the First Amendment. Anonymous speech allows people to present opinions they might not otherwise voice. Those seeking help from addictions or mental health issues can use anonymous speech as a platform for recovery or advice. While this incident highlights the dark side of anonymous speech, many people have benefited from using 4Chan as a platform to find help and foster a community of individuals in similar situations.  As such, we have decided to maintain our current policies on anonymity. We encourage our users to be sensitive in their future posts. We are deeply sorry for the situation of the victims but the benefits of free speech, and by extension, anonymous speech, will continue to be represented on our website. We will not be requiring a real name policy on our website. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families at this time.
                                               
                                                Group Two's statement

We sympathize with the events that have occurred, and we offer our condolences towards the families affected by this tragedy. However, we will not be changing our policy pertaining to the anonymity of our users. 4Chan was founded on the principles of free and anonymous speech, regardless of content. This ‘#cutforbeiber’ hoax was one that was perpetrated by a radical subgroup of our community, that does not represent the culture of our site as a whole. While this hoax did originate on our site, it quickly spread to other communities out of our control, and these are the communities where it did the most harm. 4chan was founded as a social forum, and as such, we are committed to maintaining this space on the internet for free and anonymous speech. Therefore, we will not be changing our policies regarding anonymity.

Professor's note: As an aside, neither group discussed the possibility of having the site post a prominent warning that content posted on the site, including comments and images, may be offensive, inaccurate or fake. Most students knew that the acronym used to identify the 4Chan Random Board,  "NSFW", stood for "not safe for work" and was sufficient to alert a viewer that graphic or controversial materials may be psoted.