Dear Prince William, this is why anonymity online is important

In unveiling a "national action plan" to tackle cyberbullying, Prince William reflected on the need to take responsibility for our actions online, calling anonymity online "really, really dangerous."

The debate around anonymity is as old as the internet -- we could even call it its original sin -- and is still the underlining, problematic elephant in the room when we talk about trolls, fake news, cyberbullying, alt-right activism, and so on.

On the one hand, the lack of a real link between your name and your online identity encourages participation, and fosters imagination and the freedom that comes with it.

Creating a fictional distance between your real "You" and your online identity allows people to stop worrying about their reputation, social status, finger-pointing, and focus freely on the creativity and problem-solving aspect of their experience. It's also a way to express controversial, unpopular opinions without being harassed or silenced.

But anonymity can also trigger the so-called "online disinhibition effect." People unleash their worst instincts when they aren't "forced" to sign off words with their real name, hence the explosion of trolls, bullies, haters, neo-Nazis, fake identities, and so on.

So what to do about it? Striking a balance is not easy, but it's hard to underestimate the importance of anonymity online for the wellbeing of our communities and the social contract.

Take for example political dissidents, LGBTQ activists, and whistleblowers. For them, securing anonymity or using pseudonyms is often a matter of life and death.

They simply wouldn't be able to express their political opposition, fight for their rights or report uncomfortable news about companies and governments without disguising their real identity.

In recent years, the examples are endless, but Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, brings up the "Paradise Papers," a special investigation by The Guardian, BBC Panorama and other 93 media partners into a leak of13.4 million files from two offshore service providers and 19 tax havens' company registries.

"Anonymity online can be very important, for instance for whistleblowers, journalists and people seeking to read banned information where facts and opinions are censored," Killock told Mashable.

"Without anonymity there would be no Paradise Papers."

"I’m sure Prince William did not mean to suggest that we should undermine the right to know about the excesses of the super rich and the corrupt, but that needs to be understood when we think about how and when anonymity is necessary," he said.

But it's not that all the people who need anonymity are political activists under authoritarian regimes or whistleblowers revealing secrets of the superrich. Just think of the recent appeals court ruling in U.S. v. Glassdoor, Inc..

Glassdoor is a review job site that allows current and former employees of a company to comment anonymously about them. As everyone who's used it knows, it's an important tool for people to express controversial views without fear of being identified and punished. Their views can help inform other people's opinions when applying for a job.

The recent case is about a federal grand jury in Arizona investigating allegations of fraud committed by a private contractor working for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The jury issued a subpoena to Glassdoor to seek the identities of eight accounts who posted about the contractor. The company appealed to the First Amendment and challenged the subpoena. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that because the subpoena is part of a criminal investigation, Glassdoor has to comply.

The Eletronic Frontier Foundation summed up in an article why this ruling is worrying:

Subpoenas such as the one issued to Glassdoor deter people from speaking anonymously about issues related to their employment. Glassdoor provides a valuable service because its anonymous reviews help inform other people’s career choices while also keeping employers accountable to their workers and potentially the general public.

Anonymity: a list

The Electronic Frontier Foundation also listed in 2013 all the people who are in danger of disappearing if anonymity no longer existed. Here are a few examples:

- the young LGBTQ youth seeking advice online about coming out to their parents.

- the marijuana grower who needs to ask questions on an online message board about lamps and fertilizer or complying with state law, without publicly admitting to committing a federal offense.

- the medical patient seeking advice from other patients in coping with a chronic disease, whether it's alopecia, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer or a sexually transmitted infection.

- the online dater, who wants to meet new people but only reveal her identities after she's determined that potential dates are not creeps.

- the business that wants no-pulled-punches feedback from its customers.

the World of Warcraft player, or any other MMOG gamer, who only wants to engage with other players in character.

- artists. Anonymity is integral to the work of The Yes Men, Banksy and Keizer.

the low-income neighborhood resident who wants to comment on an article about gang violence in her community, without incurring retribution in the form of spray paint and broken windows."

The list goes on, but you get the idea. Anonymity is important, let's not forget about it.