Chip StewartDec 14, 2022
There’s the Streisand Effect for you: A mystery buyer bought a Charlottesville weekly’s archives only to wipe them from the internet - apparently to erase several stories about rape allegations he faced in college. Now the Washington Post is writing about it. @mmasnick https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/14/hook-charlottesville-vanished-archive/
A newspaper vanished from the internet. Did someone pay to kill it?

The Hook, a Charlottesville weekly, closed in 2013 but web archives survived until 22,000 stories vanished in June. Speculation swirls around a mystery buyer.

The Washington Post
Show threadBritish Tech GuruDec 14, 2022
@MediaLawProf @mmasnick This, more than anything is a bloody good example of why nobody should ever post anything online under their own name. Or even have a high definition photograph of themselves online.
Show threadBob VezeauDec 15, 2022
@britishtechguru @MediaLawProf @mmasnick Or alternatively, express only views you would be willing to defend or explain for the rest of your life. Be careful tooting under the influence.
Show threadBritish Tech GuruDec 15, 2022
@BobVezeau @MediaLawProf @mmasnick That could be problematic too. How many ideas were in vogue that everybody agreed with that suddenly became heinous not many years later? I can think of plenty. Support an idea that's in vogue at your peril.
Show threadBob Vezeau
@mmasnick @britishtechguru @MediaLawProf
I follow your point. Still, it seems to me that anonymity is just avoidance of personal accountability.
Dec 15, 2022 at 1:30amWeb
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Dec 15, 2022

@BobVezeau @britishtechguru @MediaLawProf ... or someone who is at risk and wants to blow the whistle, or expose domestic violence, etc. etc. etc.

Anonymity is important.

Show threadBob VezeauDec 15, 2022

@MediaLawProf @britishtechguru @mmasnick

Yes, I get it, for those special circumstances. But why do you suppose the KKK wears those robes?

Show threadMike Masnick ✅Dec 15, 2022
@BobVezeau @MediaLawProf @britishtechguru I would suggest, kindly, that you read @jkosseff's latest book: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501762383/the-united-states-of-anonymous/
The United States of Anonymous by Jeff Kosseff | Hardcover | Cornell University Press

In The United States of Anonymous, Jeff Kosseff explores how the right to anonymity has shaped American values, politics, business, security, and...

Cornell University Press
Show threadBob VezeauDec 15, 2022
@jkosseff @britishtechguru @mmasnick @MediaLawProf
Thanks for the recommendation. Looks worthwhile.
Show threadChip StewartDec 15, 2022
@BobVezeau @jkosseff @britishtechguru @mmasnick I concur - it’s very good
Show threadBritish Tech GuruDec 15, 2022

@BobVezeau @MediaLawProf @mmasnick I was stalked in the real world by a naive young lad who was being controlled by a sociopathic woman we both knew. Horrible experience that went of for many months before the young lad presumably woke up and smelled the baloney he was being served.

I have been stalked online too. It’s not fun finding obscene voicemail on your phone. For these and many other reasons, online anonymity is important.

Show threadBob VezeauDec 15, 2022
@britishtechguru @MediaLawProf @mmasnick
Wow, I’m sorry to hear that you had that personal experience. We can also agree that the world is now full of naive people being controlled by sociopaths. So, I’ll just close by saying I understand and respect your opinion.