Geneva Council of States concerned about online hate: Poggia declares war on anonymous commentators

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Anyone who wants to express their opinion must say their name, says Geneva State Councilor Mauro Poggia (64). The representative of the Geneva protest party Mouvement Citoyens Genevois (MCG) wants politicians to take action against anonymous writers of reader comments.

In concrete terms, the politician demands that in the future only media that force their readers to mention their real names in the comment column will receive direct and indirect state support. Depending on how strictly this would be interpreted, many media outlets could be affected. For example, newspapers are indirectly supported by a discount for early delivery by mail. There is talk of broader state media financing.

“Increasing spread of lies, hatred and insults”

Today, many media outlets already require those who write comments to register, including Blick. But Poggia wants the authors’ identities to also be clear to readers. Anonymity gives authors a sense of impunity and “encourages the increasing spread of lies, hatred and insults,” the Geneva Council of States argues. Council colleagues from the FDP, the Center and the SVP support the demand and have co-signed Poggia’s proposal.

“Freedom of speech gives you the opportunity to say unpleasant things, and you have to accept that. But it should not be an excuse to get away with everything,” Poggia told the French-language Swiss newspaper Le Temps. The purpose of requiring users to publish their comments under their real names is to encourage them to “self-censor.”

Studies contradict this

Poggia is convinced that this will increase the quality of the debate. However, a look at the research raises doubts about this. Several studies have concluded that users with a real name are even more likely to write aggressive comments than users with a pseudonym. If you have to register but do not appear to readers with your real name, this will lead to better debate quality than with full transparency.

The reasons for this are not entirely clear. It is believed that users with a fixed pseudonym who often write comments are concerned about their reputation within the commenter community and therefore hold back. Clear rules of conduct and active moderation are also important for the debate culture. (lha)

Source:Blick