The Internet can be deceiving. Some people believe an invisible wall of anonymity protects them online, and that lures them into a sense of invincibility. The Internet emboldens people, which sometimes leads to more brash actions than would be taken in the physical world. Some people make threats they'd never think of making outside the World Wide Web.
The wall of anonymity has been abused at the DN|Online.
Several commenters misuse the opportunity the Daily News offers its readers online, potentially ruining the ability for others to have the freedom to post.
The benefits of online commenting are lost when posters sling mud at one another.
The Daily News' policy has been to allow any comment to be posted on our Web site without prior review. The Daily News does not remove comments, except in rare and extreme cases. One example of this was when Andrea Tallant died in March. Online comments on this story became personal attacks and weren't serving their original purpose - to further discussion about a story. In this case, the ability to comment on the story was discontinued.
More recently, some commenters have claimed to be other people, writing under others' names. Commenters have also recently threatened to physically harm people. In these cases, anonymity has been taken a step too far.
A thin line separates censorship and protection.
Readers and commenters should be able to distinguish an appropriate comment from an inappropriate one. The Daily News doesn't want to have to make that decision for you.
We offer article comments to provide a place for public discourse. We expect you to understand how to be civil and hold an informed, intelligent conversation - even behind the veil of the Internet.
The Daily News wants to continue to offer this open forum to readers, but the abuse must stop. If it doesn't, we will have to add accountability to the structure of the online forum. That could mean that a user will be required to register before being able to comment on stories or that a Daily News editor would preapprove any comments before they will be posted to the site.
Should any of these measures be taken, they would not be an effort to censor readers - simply a way to manage a problem before it spins too far out of control.
Online comments offer readers a chance to engage in conversation with one another about a Daily News story; they offer a way to say someone in our community did a good job; they give readers an opportunity to correct us at the Daily News.
We don't want to lose the good qualities of commenting because a few readers are abusing the freedom we provide you.
You, as the readers and commenters, determine our course of action. Don't be the petty one to bring down the system.
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