‘Shield from the Majority’ is under attack in Alaska
Since before the nation’s founding, Americans have engaged in political speech and advocacy anonymously. Anonymity helps to protect speakers from reprisals, violent or otherwise. It also removes a possible distraction from the contents of the message: the identity and reputation of the speaker.
TL;DR
- Anonymous speech and advocacy have been a tradition in America since before the nation's founding.
- Anonymity protects speakers from reprisals and keeps the focus on the message rather than the speaker's identity.
- There is an ongoing effort by private and public entities to diminish the right to speak anonymously.
- A group is petitioning the Supreme Court to hear a case against Alaska, aiming to re-establish the First Amendment right to associate and speak anonymously.
- Examples of government misuse of private information include searchable databases of property owners' information in New York City, the SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail tracking stock trades, and New Mexico regulators seeking donor information for the Rio Grande Foundation.