Free Speech and the Internet

This is maybe a little too related to my post waaaaaay back on the Constitution, but you'll have to bear with me because I'm pissed right now.

Okay, so for those of you who don't know, I'm a Redditor. I have my own reasons for it, and I find it to be a valuable resource for me more often than not. Recently, Reddit exploded over some free speech jazz. Gawker, a news site, recently published an article about a Redditor I'd heard in whispers and rumors, violentacrez.
http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web

violentacrez was basically a professional asshole in his spare time. He's the kind of person that tried to make Reddit more like 4chan- full of the kind of porn that makes most people uneasy, violent racism, aggressive sexism, borderline illegal photos, and definitely illegal photos.

Picsofdeadkids
Beatingwomen
Misogyny
Racism
Jailbait

These are the kinds of subreddits that this gentleman created and presided over. Reddit saw violentacrez as an internet hero, championing free speech and fighting censorship. The mods and admins of Reddit came to be friends with this fellow. Anyway, there's the exposition.

So Gawker released his name along with an article detailing the author's conversation with this man. Reddit responded by banning links to Gawker or affiliated sites (there are plenty of them and some are very popular).

Now I just want to take a minute and revel in the complete and total irony that encompasses this situation.
Reddit (the bastion of free speech and anti-censorship that hosted violentacrez's material) is actively censoring a journalistic website for violating the privacy of violentacrez, a man known for moderating over both the subreddits, "Jailbait" and "Creepshots" (voyeur subreddit) using Reddit's anti-censorship stance as a means for getting away with the stuff he was posting.

That.... baffles me.

Listen, if you're on the internet, you have some anonymity, this is true. However, there are ways around anonymity, particularly if you give your personal information out (he did), or if you do anything illegal. However, I actually have a problem with this system. Strict anonymity is a privileged expectation that I'm not okay with- it takes oversight out of the internet. I'm a fan of free speech, and I do think the internet is malevolent as a group. They gang up and attack people, often unjustly. To those ends, it would be insane to require personal information linked directly to our "usernames." However, there needs to be some system in place for allowing consequences.

The one big, huge, vast difference I see between the internet and the real world right now is a lack of accountability. A lack of consequences administered to people, because people on the internet have artificial names that they can delete or add at the drop of a hat. Not necessarily bad. One of the things I like about Reddit is that if there's a sensitive topic, you can create a throwaway account solely to tell your story without fear of backlash or having your Reddit history sprawled out by some investigator. However, I don't think this anonymity should extend to all conversations. People need to be reminded that there are consequences for your actions and what you post.

As it stands, you have a right to post whatever you want, so long as it's not illegal. However, places like Reddit are also trying to guarantee you the right to be anonymous while doing it (not a constitutional right this time). The reality is what Gawker has done- you're not fully anonymous. And there are consequences for what you post sometimes.

The internet should be a bastion of free speech in the same way that the street is. If your boss finds out you're showing Polaroids of voyeur pictures in the street, yeah, you better believe your job might be at risk. The same should apply to the internet. The internet doesn't give you a fucking free pass to say and do whatever you want without thinking first!

As a bit of a troll myself, I have appreciation for people who occasionally troll. I probably shouldn't. I don't think trolling adds anything of value to the world, but there are some trolls I find amusing. However, to say something solely because it will offend people is an unimaginative troll. And sometimes detrimental too! Creating a forum called "Racism"? You're just drawing in people to a safe haven for regressive and cruel thoughts/statements. Again, these people have a right to be regressive and dumb, but they ought to be accountable for those statements as well.

Gah, I'm just going in circles now. Sorry, I'm just extremely angry about this perception people have that they deserve to be anonymous regardless of the content of their messages.

TL;DR - Some 49 year olds need to grow the hell up.

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Waddles