Can you (and should) be anonymous on the Internet?

The proposal of the PP to end anonymity in social networks will be difficult to get ahead

    Both on social networks and on forums and websites, many users prefer not to give their real name and show their opinion under a pseudonym. A strategy almost as old as literature. But is this anonymity on the Internet legal?

For now, yes. Anyone can use many of the services and tools of the Internet without having to show their true identity. In fact, some of the accounts that more followers drag on many of these social networks respond to the profile of an anonymous.

"People have the right to surf anonymously on the Internet if they do not commit a crime and do so in a positive way," says the president of the Association of Internet Users, Víctor Domingo, who, therefore, considers that "it does not make sense" to legislate the anonymity so that it is illegal.

    However, on December 26, the Popular Party presented in the Congress of Deputies a proposal not of law with which it aims to end the "impunity of anonymity on the Internet."

Legal sources consulted by this newspaper consider that it is very difficult to end anonymity on the Internet. They also explain that freedom of information is a fundamental right that one can exercise freely, anonymously or not. "Anonymity gives you a shell to say things that if you did not have it, you would not say," they maintain.

«You have to make a positive education about the use of the internet and its tools»

And in this context, Victor Domingo advocates improving the electronic DNI. "If the PP or the PSOE wanted us all to be identified, it would be better to have an electronic ID that worked. That would facilitate the work so that everyone was identified, "he says.

A few days ago the controversy arose because the alleged real identity of one of those anonymous accounts on Twitter had been revealed. Is it permissible to remove a user from this anonymity?

Here two assumptions must be distinguished: one in which yes and another in which no. In this case, as explained by these legal sources, it is a mere game of masks. Although intellectual property does protect authors who publish under a pseudonym, in this case there would be no crime in revealing the true identity of a user.

However, and as Domingo says, doing it "is a lack of decorum and education." Something that would also be incurred by those people who retweet and make known that leak. "The yardstick has to be the same for everyone. There is a paradox that other anonymous accounts have spread this forced 'exit from the closet', he says.

The proposal of the PP went more directed to avoid that some people shield themselves behind an avatar to insult and even to harass other Internet users. In any case, it should be noted that nobody is truly 100% anonymous on the Internet.

ID
Both Víctor Domingo and the legal sources consulted agree that the State Security Forces have adequate tools to identify any Internet user, if necessary, under judicial protection.

"If at any given time you need to know who is behind an account, I can require the social network to give me information under a court order," explain legal experts, who stress that "anonymity is not synonymous with impunity."

In addition, Domingo warns that it is easier to locate a crime on the Internet than in a physical world. "You are always associated with an IP number, which is a personal data and that is why you can not legislate."

Finally, this expert points out that we must make positive use of the law and the internet. «We must do a positive education on the use of the internet and its tools. All governments should have an impact on this type of education. The underlying problem is that we have found ourselves with a very powerful communication tool that is not always well used. We are learning almost self-taught. The administration should make this educational effort, and not laws that are useless, "he concludes.