Anonymity. Anonymity represents both a fundamental asset of online freedom of expression and the cause of significant challenges. Indeed, on the one hand, the possibility of expressing one’s views without disclosing one’s personal identity represents an important tool of democracy, as it protects the speaker from backlash from private and public actors:176 thus, anonymity on the Internet can represent an important tool for the enjoyment of free- dom of expression especially within illiberal democracies. On the other hand, anonymity 172 “The potential permanency of content made available online is also a relevant consideration when quantifying the nature and extent of the harms caused … Content remains traceable and largely retrievable after its original dissemination to an unprecedented extent when the dissemination takes place online … This means that there is a danger that victims of hate speech will continuously, or at least repeatedly, be confronted by the same instance of hate speech after their original articulation”. McGonagle (n 60) 32. 173 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, ‘Cleaning Cyber-Cesspools: Google and Free Speech’ in Xxxx Xxxxxxx and Xxxxxx X Xxxxxxxx (eds), The Offensive Internet: Privacy, Speech, and Reputation (Harvard University Press 2010) 155. 174 Xxxxxxxxxxx and others (n 170) 14. 175 ibid. 176 Xxxx Xxxxxxxx, ‘Internet and the Right of Anonymity’ in Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx (ed), Proceedings of the conference Regulating the Internet, Belgrade, 2010 (Center for Internet Development 2011); Xxxxxxx Xxxxx, ‘Anonimato, Responsabilità, Identificazione: Prospettive Di Diritto Comparato’ (2014) 2 Il diritto dell’in- formazione e dell’informatica 171; Xxxxxx Xxxx Xxxxxxxx, ‘Anonimato, Responsabilità e Trasparenza Nel Quadro Costituzionale Italiano’ (2014) 2 Il diritto dell’informazione e dell’informatica 207; Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, New Media and Freedom of Expression: Rethinking the Constitutional Foundations of the Public Sphere (Xxxx 2019) 202–204. In the US, the right to anonymous speech is considered to be generally protected under the First Amendment following XxXxxxxx v Ohio Elections Commission 514 US 334 (1995). increases the risk of dissemination of illegal and harmful content not only because it makes enforcement of content regulation more burdensome,177 but also, and perhaps even more so, because it can lead individuals to feel hidden, and therefore secure, when up- loading such materials. In fact, most Internet users do not have the technological tools, nor the know-how to a...
