Anonymous platforms have become notorious for illegal activity, bullying, terrorism and generally distasteful content. Some early adopters of these technologies have reasons to hide. Others are just looking for a forum without actually identity association. These affinities, while pursued by some considered well within societies acceptable norms, also draw those that are pursuing socially unacceptable behaviors and activities.
To start, criminal activities pervade some new technologies. Printing presses were used to print heretical books and increased censorship. Early digital telephone systems led to the introduction of phreaking. The internet was a breeding ground for criminal activities, including hacking and swapping texts like The Anarchist Cookbook. Cryptocurrencies were known to be utilized by criminals. Tor is used by terrorists, drugs dealers, weapon/human traffickers, et cetera. But all of these technologies either developed into larger and more mainstream technology, or are in the process of doing so.
The latest concern with anonymous geolocation platforms is bullying. But this is not unique to anonymous platforms, as Facebook has proven to be a framework for malicious intent just as much as any other platform (Amanda Todd is a case in point). In most cases which were documented, it seems that bullying was not isolated to one platform or another, but across multiple mediums, including in person.
Verbal or textual bullying is simply an aspect of life, usually in response to socially unacceptable behavior. If rumors or behaviors are completely unfounded, they are usually ignored and quickly dissipate. It is when there is truth to what is said that it is much more harmful. When this does happen, it is better to identify and provide the target with counseling and guidance to orchestrate better actions and approaches to interacting with peers. Attempting to correct each alleged bully is the boil the ocean approach and has proved ineffective. Actual violence is of course another matter, but this can usually be attributed to a single or a few individuals, for which they can be held accountable.
In any case, suicide rates have dropped since the advent of the internet, according to the CDC. If anonymous bullying were truly at cause for an increase in suicides, suicides should have increased during this time instead of decreasing.
Terrorism is another concern with anonymous platforms. Threats are commonly investigated and organizations are forced to hand over all relevant information by means of a subpoena. Sometimes these threats are unsubstantiated and the only goal in mind is to apprehend those that have caused a disruption to society and wasted resources in causing an investigation of the matter. But when substantiated, it is important to prevent or mitigate these actions. Providing a trustworthy forum for people to associate with and vent through draws out information. It is usually the habit of terrorists to reach out to those they identify with before a crime or attack occurs. Drawing out details of these activities before they occur could serve beneficial. When an anonymous platform is compromised, it is less likely to be used as an open forum and therefore further alienates people with antisocial tendencies, which could result in less communication about plans and a narrower surface area that could be cause for alert.
Spreading the word about a potential terrorist attack or crime is also concern. When associated with these types of people, many fear for their life and therefore do not trust given avenues of reporting such behavior. A truly anonymous system for discussing and reporting such activity may alleviate some of these anxieties. Wikileaks has done a good job of this, although it is for reporting events that have already occurred, not potential attacks. It is a trade off not being able to identify sources for possibility gaining more information, but on the flip side, an anonymous forum does not take away from existing efforts. The same is true for most criminal activities.
Another primary concern is that of child pornography. A manifestation of an underlying issue at hand, the culture that it creates may encourage more of the behavior. On the other hand, eliminating the dissemination of the content does not necessarily eliminate the underlying issue. With the development of image processing, it may be possible to identify at exploited minors from pictures/videos and remove them from their environment. The more this technology is developed, the more helpful this material may become in assisting at risk youth. Targeting anonymous platforms more than likely will only drive participants to other means of discovery and distribution. This may make it more difficult to find and identify the subjects in photos and videos. In any case, the interest in collecting and viewing child pornography seems to be minimal.
Secondary concerns of anonymous platforms center around piracy and copyright violations. Organizations usually measure the financial impact of piracy by measuring unit price multiplied by number of copies that were illegally distributed. In reality, most of the people that partake in these activities do not have enough money to make such purchases and would turn to alternative products that cost less, or are free, if the pirated version(s) became unavailable or unusable. In the case of software, this commonly serves as an opportunity to learn the software, sometimes resulting in professional and business use of the software once learned where paid-for copies of the software are utilized. A subscription model for post-box-office movies and television series seem to be popular among would be pirates. The music industry, which has been eroding year after year, almost every year, since 1999, seems that it would benefit little from eliminating piracy, although it may temporarily benefit the advertising industry until budgets are adjusted for effectiveness of campaigns. Books, pictures and other such material do not seem to hold a large presence in the pirating world, with the exceptions of leaks.
With each perceived evil, there are potential benefits. What some term misuses others term as simply uses. Anonymous forums are not of interest to everyone, of little interest to some and of great interest to a few. However, movements such as these have given way to noteworthy disclosures, achievements, and ultimately changes that have altered the course of history. It is an important concept that has enabled nearly unfettered contribution and eventual change.
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