In the wake of the tragic death of the member of parliament for Southend West, David Amess, fellow MPs have been talking about how to best protect both politicians and the public from abuse and harm. This has included a strong focus on enacting laws designed to halt online abuse, even though police have not linked Amess’s killing to this issue directly.
There have been suggestions that such abuse can be attributed, at least in part, to online anonymity – that is, the fact many social media users set up their accounts using aliases, and without images that reveal who they are, in order to conceal their identity. Speaking on Sky News, Home Secretary Priti Patel indicated there was a need to address anonymous accounts. Asked if she would consider legislation to remove the right to anonymity on social media, Patel responded:
I want us to look at everything. And there is work taking place already […] But we can’t carry on like this. I spend too much time actually with communities who have been under attack basically, who have had all sorts of postings put online, and it’s a struggle to get those postings taken down. We want to make some big changes on that.
The idea has since gained traction, with other MPs calling for a ban on anonymous social media accounts as a way to mitigate online abuse.
