Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin proposes to pack anonymous members of Internet community into a special dangerous Zone
Moscow, May 18, Interfax – The Moscow Patriarchate believes anonymity in Internet may create a threat to society.
“I am opposed to anonymity in Internet; I think an individual communicating with others should not conceal his or her name, just as we never cover our faces while talking to other people. If an individual wears a mask or a nickname, there are reasons to distrust him or her,” Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations told Interfax-Religion.
Moreover, he continued, anonymous communication “desperately destroys culture and the rules of human community”; the anonymous authors in Internet “more often than those who do not hide behind any mask take the liberty to use strong language, abuses on national and religious grounds, lies, slander and low conduct.”
These vulgar “heroes” are indeed just pitiful persons unable to say something intelligible and defend their position in an open argument,” Father Vsevolod said.
He proposed to divide the Internet space into two zones – one safe zone acceptable to people who respect themselves and others which could be accessed under a person’s real name and the other anonymous zone.
The latter may be declared unsafe “and may not be recommended for use by children and teenagers, and responsible companies would never post their websites in that zone, as well as any information resources.” Users will be aware that they might be attacked by “a pedophile, an impostor or an aggressive nationalist because anonymity always means danger,” he said.
“We know that the city life was developing from savageness to civilization. Some time ago, you could be attacked by robbers, pimps, cads or murderers in any city street, not mentioning dark side streets or dumps. Many of them were wearing masks or just concealed their names. The same happens in Internet,” Father Vsevolod stated.
