Information Literacy UNL 205x

"Not daring to write one’s real name, in truth, is a form of self-protection for the weak.” This quote from a chinese blogger speeks volumes. The act using you name on a blog, wiki, or news site puts a person behind the statment rather than letters on a scrfeen. If the purpose of requiring ones name on a blog, wiki, or comments was to be used for legitimate identification purposes I see no issue in requiring it. In Communist China that's a different story. There apparent legitimate reasoning to forge greater “social responsibility” and “civility” among users, while a noble and possible effect, is not the intended nor the desired outcome. This hypothesis is logical based on China's previous governmental regulations regarding "harmful and vulgar information" on the internet. With this new regulation they can put a name and identification number to users who post “harmful information.” The fact remains the public opinion of 340 million Chinese online users is a risk to great to go unchecked for a communist government.

"Not daring to write one’s real name, in truth, is a form of self-protection for the weak.” This quote from a chinese blogger speeks volumes. The act using you name on a blog, wiki, or news site puts a person behind the statment rather than letters on a scrfeen. If the purpose of requiring ones name on a blog, wiki, or comments was to be used for legitimate identification purposes I see no issue in requiring it. In Communist China that's a different story. There apparent legitimate reasoning to forge greater “social responsibility” and “civility” among users, while a noble and possible effect, is not the intended nor the desired outcome. This hypothesis is logical based on China's previous governmental regulations regarding "harmful and vulgar information" on the internet. With this new regulation they can put a name and identification number to users who post “harmful information.” The fact remains the public opinion of 340 million Chinese online users is a risk to great to go unchecked for a communist government.

I pretty much have the same feeling with Andrea, as she mentioned "The fact remains the public opinion of 340 million Chinese online users is a risk to great to go unchecked for a communist government." I see it is a necessary tool that make people take responsibility of their comments on the internet to reduce bad influence , people still have freedom of expression just with more consideration.

The situation is that there are 340 million Chinese internet users and still growing, so the internet has already become a mainstream media for people to get news, get information or communication. the problem is that internet is not like newspaper or TVnews that the presses take responsibility of their contents and try to reflect the truth, good for government to control,on the internet people talk whatever they want to talk with different motivations,that is ok but under this huge population would be a risk, just like an editor in the article mentioned"The influence of public opinion on the Net is still too big." as this result the government should take some measure to check the information from the internet just as other mainstream media. Gossip is a fearful thing, as a communist government especially with a huge population, if you don't check this little harmful information, it may have huge influence which you can't control.

I believe that internet should be controlled in some aspects but when asked to give your real identity is over using the power of the government. I believe the people around the world and in China should be able to express themselves freely. To comment on a blog and have to use your real name would change the way you respond to the blog because if you know that something if going to be confidential you are more likely to give your true opinion. I was schocked to read about the blockage of facebook, youtube, and twitter because for many people those are ways of talking to loved ones who live far away. And youtube if one of the most famous site for just about any video you want to see. Like i said before the internet should be censored to some extent but the rest should be free to the public

I understand that China wants to block its citizens from complete freedom with the interweb because of things such as watching porn, and finding out secrets about China they don't want their people to know, but I think that making them use their "true identities' is a little absurd. First of all, this could potentailly lead to stalking, giving out ALL of your information on the internet just isn't safe. Second of all, people should have the right to freedom of speech and be able to say what they please and take on any alias they want when saying whatever they want. But then you have to take into account that this is communist China, and because they are under a rule such as this (which I will admit, I don't know much about) I can see how it is understandable that they would want to be able to control everything and know everything including knowing exactly who is looking at what, when.

I, too, was struck by the quote about the lack of posting one's name being protection for the weak. Although it sounds kind of harsh, I think it is really true. If what you are posting online is not something inappropriate, factually wrong or against the law, why not have your name under it? It will probably improve the credibility of things you find on the internet. However, what if you were a public figure or someone famous posting comments? I can understand that you might not want just anyone to have any type of contact information. In this case, I wonder if it would be possible to register under your real name and contact info (cellphone number I think it said in the article) but have your name listed as something else under your comment. That way, it retains some of the responsibility that accompanies attaching your name to a statement, but still protects some of your privacy.

It's also important to consider where the regulations are being put into place. In China it is much different than it is here in the United States. The article discusses numerous other ways that the government is controlling what can and cannot be done or accessed on the internet, many of which seem like a infringement upon rights. Therefore, I would be concerned as to the motives behind instituting controls such as as requiring someone to post their real name.

Allowing anonymity on the internet makes it possible for people to share their views, no matter how radical they might be, without risk of being shunned. Internet users are able to share ideas that otherwise might be too embarrassing or hard to talk about. This information is very important and interesting for researchers that might be polling for taboo subjects. Or when a small community is discussing a divisive issue, such as a big box development, it protects some individuals. Clearly in China this anonymity offers a chance to criticize the government, something they actively monitor. The secretive manner that this “new layer of surveillance” has been added also draws doubt about its poorly designed intentions. This measure simply reinforces that china’s attempts at monitoring the internet are crude, inflammatory and ineffective (the article mentions that it is possible to give a false identity). The concern about civility on the internet should be up to the viewer, if they choose to look at such comment so be it. It is the reader’s responsibility to navigate to quality content. Additionally, I don’t think that leaving your name and identification will be a reliable method of proving that the comments were actually said by you, identity fraud may become an issue.