Nowadays, some people exploit their freedom of expression in their online activities to the detriment of others. This is why many believe all Romanians should be required to provide proof of identity when setting up an account so they can be held responsible for their actions. But would this approach really solve the problem at hand?
On one hand, it would change people for the better. Internet users post what they post under the premise that anonymity protects them and not even the social platform's owner can legally harm them. They can be banned or have their account deleted ,of course, but the lack of deterrent retribution allows them to continue uploading offensive or inappropriate attachments. If people were shown that their wrongdoings online were sanctioned (through fines or other methods), there would most likely be a decrease in vulgar distasteful posts.
On the other hand, sharing personal information online as proof of identity can be dangerous. In theory, the data someone supplies when setting up an account is stored on a server that can only be reached by officials. However, ill-intentioned people with sufficient hacking abilities could gain access to said information, thus rendering someone vulnerable. Everyone should be able to benefit from activities on the Internet, without putting themselves at risk in the process.
To conclude, demanding some sort of proof of identity when joining online communities is a viable way of increasing people's sense of responsibility by showing them that bad actions have real consequences, although it makes them more prone to getting hacked. This is a rather serious problem and we should search for methods to mitigate it because, after all, we are directly involved and affected by it.

Last edited by Cristina.without.h (2019-11-10 20:44:09)