News Sites Rethink Anonymous Online Comments

(New York Times) When news sites, after years of hanging back, embraced the idea of allowing readers to post comments, the near-universal assumption was that anyone could weigh in and remain anonymous. But now, that idea is under attack from several directions, and journalists, more than ever, are questioning whether anonymity should be a given on news sites.


This is one of the main contentions that the Gedolim have with the Haredi websites, that people are empowered by anonymity to criticize the leadership and community structure in a way that they would not in person. Alternatively, people who are "meichutz lamachane," whose opinions others in the community would not normally listen to are trusted as normative sources due to their shielded identities.