So, I see once again the "Real Names Only" on social media crowd is getting going over this story. /1 #cdnpoli #abpoli https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-women-in-politics-face-harassment-1.5699681

I'm going to say this again:

Go down this road, you effectively muzzle women online and deny them a voice. /2

Many women online take an anonymous handle _because_ they have been stalked, doxed, and harassed IRL, and putting their identity out there creates a real danger to themselves and their families. /3

Insisting on "real name only" does not make people "accountable for their actions" - the fact that stalking and harassment has been happening to women far longer than the internet has been around proves that point. /4

To me, this is little different than telling women "don't dress provocatively" to prevent rape. You're literally telling the victims to prevent the crime being perpetrated against them.

I thought we had already figured out that this is backwards. /5

Threats against female politicians aren't new either - and they are in the same vein as the threats that women in general experience every day.

There's a reason women have to take precautions - it's because we don't take violence against women seriously enough. /6

Social media isn't a bubble. Practices like doxxing take online harassment and move it into the real world.

If you want to solve online harassment, there has to be _REAL_ consequences for online harassment, doxing, and real life harassment stemming from online activity. /7

That means cross border enforcement of anti-harassment laws; legal, and ethical obligations on the part of companies that operate social media to effectively police activity on their platforms; and so on. /8

It isn't easy, nor is it simple. But it needs to be done.

"Real Name" policies aren't going to help unless we take online and real life harassment much more seriously. /9

~fin~

PS1: I can think of a good number of anonymous posters in my follows whose commentary is insightful, intelligent and not abusive. Why should they be silenced on the altar of "real names only"? /a

Examples include @DianeMariePosts, @Scribulatora, @paladine, @Blurg5, @mini_bubbly, @sunnshiiny, @Paulbyjove1 (there's more, many more)

The people who need to be brought to heel are not those who post anonymously, but those whose actions are abusive and harassing. /b

PS/2: Identity theft is already a problem online, and this just makes it a thousand times easier for the criminals who engage in this.