Republican Kentucky State Representative, Tim Couch, has what he considers a brilliant solution to end online harassment. He wants to step all over some of your First Amendment rights by denying you anonymity on the Net. Yes, Representative Couch has caught a bit of the authoritarian bug.

It doesn’t take long to realize the ramifications of a law like this. Sure, it would probably cut down significantly on “online bullying”, which I doubt is as much of an issue as he feels it is, but by doing so it will also infringe on the freedom of ideas and especially political speech. Anonymity can certainly be abused, but it is also a tool to allow people to expose negative actions among the community, workplace, etc. while keeping their identity concealed and personal safety secure without fear of backlash or reprisal from the accused party.

Why is it a general rule of thumb to not release the identity of an alleged rape victim? Because doing so would prevent many victims from stepping foward and reporting the crime if their names were to be dragged through the media. Why do we have whistle blower laws? We have them to prevent acts of revenge on those who have the courage to expose the corruption. Furthermore, think of the impacts of political speech this law would have? Many people would be quite reluctant to make their true views and feeling known about a certain politician or policy if they have to reveal their true identity.

Then we have the matter of personal safety. You can find anyone today by using the Internet without a whole lot of work. Anyone who has commented on a blog or on a message board forum knows how heated discussions can be. Do we want people being stalked because another reader doesn’t like the political views they espouse or the fact they may have trashed their favorite sports team? This is not far fetched. It happens and your full name would be out there for all to see.

How would a law like this be enforced? How would the State of Kentucky determine what Internet sites are subjected to this restriction? Would it be only those blogs or message forums that are run from within the state? What of people in Kentucky who access Web sites served outside of the state? The Internet knows no geographical boundaries. A law such as this would simply open the door to more bureaucracy and judicial chaos

Mr. Couch is an example of an increasing problem within the Republican Party, the spoken belief of limited government, but the practice of big government authoritarianism when it helps a personal agenda. This proposed law is unenforcible, unconscionable, and unlikely to pass Constitutional muster.

House District 90
Clay
Harlan (part)
Leslie

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