Show Notes
In the years leading up to the American Revolution, newspapers and pamphlets overflowed with essays signed "Publius," "Brutus," and "A Farmer." Those arguments helped shape a nation, but the authors' real names were nowhere to be found.
Americans have long relied on anonymous speech to challenge the powerful, protect dissenters, and keep the focus on ideas rather than identities. That tradition has endured into America's digital age, even as anonymous speech has become more controversial.
To explore America's history with anonymity, we are joined by Jeff Kosseff, a nonresident senior legal fellow at The Future of Free Speech and author of The United States of Anonymous. Preorder his forthcoming book, The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom.
Timestamps:
Intro
What is anonymity?
Anonymous speech in Colonial America
Does the First Amendment protect anonymity?
Anonymous speech in the Civil Rights Era
The internet and anonymity
Modern anonymity debates: DHS subpoenas, age verification, social media regulation, and VPN bans
Outro
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