The United States of Anonymous: How the First Amendment Shaped Online Speech

by Jeff Kosseff

Overview

In The United States of Anonymous, Jeff Kosseff explores how the right to anonymity has shaped American values, politics, business, security, and discourse, particularly as technology has enabled people to separate their identities from their communications.

Legal and political debates surrounding online privacy often focus on the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, overlooking the history and future of an equally powerful privacy right: the First Amendment's protection of anonymity. The United States of Anonymous features extensive and engaging interviews with people involved in the highest profile anonymity cases, as well as with those who have benefited from, and been harmed by, anonymous communications. Through these interviews, Kosseff explores how courts have protected anonymity for decades and, likewise, how law and technology have allowed individuals to control how much, if any, identifying information is associated with their communications. From blocking laws that prevent Ku Klux Klan members from wearing masks to restraining Alabama officials from forcing the NAACP to disclose its membership lists, and to refusing companies' requests to unmask online critics, courts have recognized that anonymity is a vital part of our free speech protections.

The United States of Anonymous weighs the tradeoffs between the right to hide identity and the harms of anonymity, concluding that we must maintain a strong, if not absolute, right to anonymous speech.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501762383
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	1,072,464
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jeff Kosseff is Associate Professor in the United States Naval Academy's Cyber Science Department and author of the bestselling book, The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the recipient of the George Polk Award in National Reporting. Follow him on X @jkosseff.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I: Developing the Right to Anonymity
1. America, the Anonymous
2. Empowering Anonymous Association
3. Empowering Anonymous Speech
4. The Scope of Anonymity Empowerment
5. Antimask
Part II: The Right to Online Anonymity
6. Cybersmear
7. Setting the Rules for Online Anonymity
8. Online Anonymity and Copyright
9. When the Government Wants to Unmask You
10. Anonymity Worldwide
11. Technological Protections for Anonymity
Part III: Living in an Anonymous World
12. Anonymity as a Shield
13. Anonymity as a Sword
Part IV: The Future of Anonymity
14. Real-Name Policies
15. Out in the Open
16. Empowering Anonymity through Privacy Law
Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

Anupam Chander

A superb book, accessibly written, that canvasses the history of anonymous speech and its interaction with the law. Jeff Kosseff has created a major framework for any future discussions of anonymity.

Victoria Smith Ekstrand

Providing both a great story and keen legal analysis, Jeff Kosseff examines what fuels our commitment to protecting anonymous speech in the United States—and the new and sometimes high costs of that unwavering allegiance.

Jimmy Wales

From the world's leading expert on Section 230, a new book with a balanced and insightful look at online anonymity—the good and the bad—that is required reading for anyone who wants to substantively engage in this debate.

Kate Klonick

Jeff Kosseff has, once again, spotted the next looming topic in technology law, anonymous communication, illuminating its contours with his trademark skill. The United States of Anonymous is a foundational dive into one of the toughest areas of speech, privacy, and identity today.

Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Kosseff weaves together history, legal issues, and public affairs in this vital, timely, and highly readable book. The United States of Anonymous should be required reading for all engaged in the debate over anonymity, identity, and privacy in the online age.

Craig Newmark

An indispensable, in-depth look at both the history and present of anonymity protections in American life, media, and online culture. The United States of Anonymous will have resounding implications for the future of democracy.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2022

Increased private and public sector surveillance along with facial recognition, geolocation, and other technology advances allow unprecedented access to people's identity, notes Kosseff (cyber science, U.S. Naval Academy; The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet). Such developments threaten to undermine an essential component of U.S. democracy he dubs "the culture of anonymity." He explains that that culture is grounded that culture in a tradition dating to colonial pamphleteers and the Federalist Papers and fixed in First Amendment protections allowing people to communicate controversial, embarrassing, harmful, intimate, or even revolutionary ideas without facing repercussions. To preserve, indeed, to continue to empower anonymity in its many guises and allow people to control what, if any details about themselves are revealed, particularly in internet activity, requires increased legal protections, Kosseff insists. Lauding the benefits of anonymous speech in everyday life, he advocates robust online protections and urges lawmakers to supplement First Amendment rights with stricter privacy laws to restrict the ability of public and private parties to collect, use, and share people's identifying information. VERDICT Amid surging social media and online speech wars, readers concerned about the future of free speech, privacy, and the law will appreciate Kosseff's ability to deftly place the many-sided anonymity debate in the context of constitutional values and social norms.—Thomas J. Davis

Library Journal