I am no fan of anonymous comments. As a conservative, if I don’t like them I can choose to turn them off. Liberals (even Republican liberals) are not content to make their own choice. They want you to make their choice too.
NYS lawmakers are proposing a ban on anonymous comments.
I am serious. There is no problem so small that legislators can leave to ordinary people.
Nearly half of the Republicans serving in the New York State Assembly have proposed legislation that would ban anonymous online comments.
If enacted, the legislation would require websites — including social networks and online newspapers — to remove all anonymous comments that are brought to the attention of administrators.
An anonymous comment could remain if the author “agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.”
UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh told The Daily Caller that the bill is “clearly unconstitutional.”
“The Supreme Court has held for 50 years that anonymous speech is protected,” explained Volokh, pointing to the 1960 case Talley v. California. “This kind of breach of anonymity on demand is just not constitutional.”
“I would love to hear from these legislators… Presumably at least one of them should be able to speak to the constitutional objections to the statute,” Volokh added.
The sponsor of the state Senate’s version, Republican Thomas O’Mara, told TheDC that he had not initially considered that the legislation might ban First Amendment-protected speech.
Butt out!!
