Anonymity And The First Amendment: New Wrinkles In The Tension Between Anonymity And Accountability
By Anuj Desai
A dissident wants to send an e-mail with information aimed at exposing human rights abuses by her country's government. An unscrupulous "financial advisor" uses his website to manipulate the stock prices of individual companies by providing false information about alleged insider trading. A victim of sexual assault goes into a "chat room" to share her story with other victims. A hacker seeks to send an e-mail virus aimed at crippling computers world-wide. Each of these individuals has at least one thing in common. They all wish to remain anonymous.
Throughout history, anonymity has helped shield speakers of all kinds and has served both noble and nefarious goals. As technology makes communication easier, anonymity's power, to do both good and ill, likewise has increased. Moreover, while technology has in some ways reduced individuals' privacy by facilitating the sharing
