The Times are stopping anonymous comments

[Ch3wylemon]

Just that. They have changed their comment policy and soon subscribers will only be able to comment in their real name.

I appreciate there is a valid argument about owning your comments, but there are also potential harms arising. Especially to women - death & rape threats for having the wrong beliefs anyone? I can't help thinking it will reduce free speech.

Separately, as a health care professional with a professional social media presence, I keep my political views and feminist activism away from my public posts. Patients don't need to know my views they have no bearing on how I treat them.

Personally, if I can't comment under a pseudonym I will no longer post. It seems such a shame as the ability to comment under articles by Janice Turner and other brilliant writers has helped the debate to reach a wider audience. It feels like a backwards move.

How on earth would they know someone's real name? Its not like they do a vetting check before you're allowed to post a comment.

There was a thread about this already - did it get deleted?

It's linked to your subscription though. I could try a fake name I suppose.

Sorry - I did look but couldn't see it. Happy to ask HQ to delete if there is already a discussion.

I just subscribed to i with a fake name. Its pretty easy.

What happens if family members share a subscription?

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4692693-the-times-is-changing-its-comment-policy

@Ch3wylemon more surprised that it get deleted than thinking this one shouldn’t exist!

Thank you Gastonia, not deleted!

The Times says you can use your first initial and surname. It's problematic for women if you have an unusual name and work somewhere where bullying of woman is common - academia, politics, the NHS etc.
You don't have to link your previous ID to your name (unless you specifically choose to) so it's a case of being very careful now not to post identifying information that could out you. Tbh, some of the comments are so appalling, it's no bad thing if people are meant to own their views.
The discussions under so many "gender critical" articles have improved and broadened massively - men are taking up the battle as well. The days when the commentators like the wonderful Jo March had to painstakingly set out the issues are long gone - the readership have educated themselves and now post in their thousands. A majority understand what's happening to children, bullying of women, the problems labour have with women etc. Things have changed imho.

surely this works both ways though?

The good thing is that only subscribers can see comments. They can't be googled. So you should be at least save from nosy HR people 😂

I think it's unreasonable. the times should of course have to hand over names and whatnot to the police in the event that a post strays into possibly be criminal territory, but for benign, if opinionated, content posters should be protected from 'outing' and therefore potential harassment.

It will just mean many women will stop commenting.

That's such a shame. I have a distinctive name and the sort of profession that means I am very public. I have often commented on stories but wouldn't do so in future.

I am in two minds over this. On one hand, owning your comments shouldn’t be difficult or dangerous. But of course we know it can be just that. Also, people sometimes post really interesting things about insights from their own professions which they would never do if directly attributable. For example an academic wrote very honestly recently about the reality and impact on the course they teach of the large number of foreign students being enrolled by their university. It was very enlightening and there’s no way they would have posted under their real name!

I thought it was interesting that I received the email informing me of this change the day after I’d read Hadley’s piece. Probably a coincidence.

I think the ability to post truthfully is also important and risks being lost.

Has anyone contacted them over this? My subscription is up for renewal at the end of this month and I’m considering discontinuing over this policy change.

We all know that women are more likely than men to receive abuse for having the “wrong” opinions and many of us cannot risk the sort of treatment meted out to those who put their name to GC views. This move feels like indirect discrimination and is likely to result in comments being drawn from a narrower pool of subscribers than before, potentially favouring the views of men and those who are retired.

The Telegraph is the same and it actually seems to lead to more respectful comments on the whole even where people disagree, although yes I do worry about identifying myself as a believer in biological reality.

I read both Times and Telegraph and it's noticeable that the majority of commenters are male (or appear to be). There was some research about this a few years back. Apparently men post even more when they can be anonymous.

I still haven't had an email about this from the times. I don't comment often on there but I can see this will have a chilling effect.

There's a lot of this about at the moment from well-meaning people. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said in her Reith Lecture that people should have to make social media posts in their real name. She also said she gets someone else to handle her social media. Most of us don't have that luxury.

Pseudonymous is not the same as anonymous. A pseudonym builds its own reputation, as Datun or Anyfucker could tell you.

I've had enough abuse from real name and job title blue tick people to know this will not solve online abuse. It will just have a chilling effect on free speech.

Mine has automatically come up with my own name. DD also uses the subscription and I've had to remove a couple of her comments to avoid any backlash.

It looks as if your accounts are linked unless you make changes after the 13th december? Found this on their webaite:
Will my previous/old comments now have my real name attached to them?
If you update your screen name to be compliant with our 'real name' definition on or after December 13 any new comments from this date will be posted under your new screen name. Your historical comments will be locked under the screen name that you held on or before December 12.

What if I want to keep continuity in my screen name?
If you want to keep the continuity of your screen name across your comments published before and after December 13, then we advise that you update your current screen name by Sunday December 11 to comply with our ‘real name’ definition.