The internet is super great place to discuss with people from all over the world but the drawback can be that people are able to attack, threaten, harass or bully other users anonymously in all impunity. Worse, it can lead to actual physical crimes in real life.
A Spanish judge has called for end to social media anonymity in hate crime cases in the wake of a wave of online disinformation after the killing of an 11-year-old boy.
"Miguel Ángel Aguilar, a judge from the court that handles hate crimes and discrimination, wants to oblige platforms to reveal users’ true identity in cases of suspected hate crime so the law can impose digital restraining orders.
The move comes after the killing last Sunday of a boy in a village near Toledo in central Spain. He was playing football with friends when a man with his face concealed by a scarf ran on to the field and stabbed him numerous times.
In an echo of the disinformation that followed the murder of three young girls in Southport in the north of England last month, posts appeared on social media almost immediately falsely linking the attack to immigration and in particular to so-called menas, unaccompanied minors, the majority of them from north Africa.
The police have since arrested a 20-year-old Spanish man. He was visiting his father in the village and is thought to have mental health problems.
Aguilar said in a television interview on Wednesday that purveyors of hate speech should be identified and that social media platforms should be forced to reveal their true identity if the judiciary requested it.
“Creating a climate of stigmatisation via social media can translate into acts of violence in the street,” he said. “When a crime is committed on social media we must be able to identify the source.
“It would be interesting to see how people behave on social media if they know they can be identified, and especially if the judiciary wants to know who they are.”"
Personally I think it would be a good thing if the law enforcement were able to oblige social media platform to reveal the identity of users who committed crimes. Actually I thought it was already the case. Obviously it's not always possible to determine the user's identity. It would be easy enough if their account is linked to a paying service and a credit card (like Google Play, YouTube Premium, or Facebook marketplace), but not everyone has a credit card linked to their account, and even when they do it might not be their own card (notably for minors using their parents card). This raises the question of whether social media website should be obliged to verify their user's identity. If people know that their identity can be revealed to the authorities, they would be less likely to misbehave online.
A Spanish judge has called for end to social media anonymity in hate crime cases in the wake of a wave of online disinformation after the killing of an 11-year-old boy.
"Miguel Ángel Aguilar, a judge from the court that handles hate crimes and discrimination, wants to oblige platforms to reveal users’ true identity in cases of suspected hate crime so the law can impose digital restraining orders.
The move comes after the killing last Sunday of a boy in a village near Toledo in central Spain. He was playing football with friends when a man with his face concealed by a scarf ran on to the field and stabbed him numerous times.
In an echo of the disinformation that followed the murder of three young girls in Southport in the north of England last month, posts appeared on social media almost immediately falsely linking the attack to immigration and in particular to so-called menas, unaccompanied minors, the majority of them from north Africa.
The police have since arrested a 20-year-old Spanish man. He was visiting his father in the village and is thought to have mental health problems.
Aguilar said in a television interview on Wednesday that purveyors of hate speech should be identified and that social media platforms should be forced to reveal their true identity if the judiciary requested it.
“Creating a climate of stigmatisation via social media can translate into acts of violence in the street,” he said. “When a crime is committed on social media we must be able to identify the source.
“It would be interesting to see how people behave on social media if they know they can be identified, and especially if the judiciary wants to know who they are.”"
Personally I think it would be a good thing if the law enforcement were able to oblige social media platform to reveal the identity of users who committed crimes. Actually I thought it was already the case. Obviously it's not always possible to determine the user's identity. It would be easy enough if their account is linked to a paying service and a credit card (like Google Play, YouTube Premium, or Facebook marketplace), but not everyone has a credit card linked to their account, and even when they do it might not be their own card (notably for minors using their parents card). This raises the question of whether social media website should be obliged to verify their user's identity. If people know that their identity can be revealed to the authorities, they would be less likely to misbehave online.
