I personally believe the internet should be free in every aspect – that includes freedom of access (no censorship) and freedom from surveillance (anonymity). It is no surprise that I believe down the line – using Tor (what today people foolishly call the “dark web”) will become the norm.
Coming back to why I am posting: I was revamping my website and wanted to make the “Comments Section” accessible to anyone without requiring any sign-in or sign-up (which kills anonymity and freedom of speech to a great extent).
Problem: If I remove the sign-up process, random bots or more unfortunately humans themselves would spam the comments section with potentially harmful content – a problem faced by the Tor community.
Theoretically, I could spend countless days developing a “Comments Filter bot” but honestly, neither do I have the time nor the will because I still believe humans should learn to respect and stop themselves from harming others. The Internet represents democracy at its best – it works best when its citizens are responsible.
My dilemma: should I embrace democracy by making the “Comments Section” on my website free to everyone and remove the sign-in or sign-up process (and thereby risk harmful spam) or should I take the easier path and keep things the way they are – force people to sign-in or sign-up so that I can act as a dictator and monitor malicious posts.