Anonymity
Here's an interesting article from The Telegraph today. It relates to a court ruling that bloggers will no longer be afforded their anonymity to protect them from disciplinary action from the workplace or even criminal investigation.
I'm unsure where I stand on this issue. On the one hand I think certain individuals, like the one mentioned in the article should be allowed their secrecy, but others who publish vile rhetoric should be revealed to the world so we know who they are and that they have to show culpability for their views.
I can see this ruling being misused by many employers or ex-employers to find out who may be publishing defamatory writings about their company, I know of a couple of bloggers who have lost their jobs because they were found to be writing disparaging remarks about the workplace, but surely if their workplace was a good place to be employed then such remarks would be non-existent? Isn't critical commentary a way of finding new practices to improve on what at least one employee finds unacceptable to work with? So rather than chase down the messenger, wouldn't it be more prudent to act upon the information to make the company better?
I can imagine that there would have to be stringent rules or even a regulatory body to oversee who could be revealed and who could remain anonymous, but at what point do you set your benchmark? It's quite easy to decide whether a right-wing nutter should be made accountable for rousing the unintelligent, but like the case in the article, a man who was risking his job to reveal the inadequacies of an entrenched public sector monster with many secrets, where do you draw the line?
It will be interesting to hear your thoughts on this issue.
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Comments
Isn't that censorship? Bit hard to police globally though. Not doubt they will manipulate the laws their way. What if what the employee says is absolute truth though? I think the bad publicity may go against the company in the end.
Makes me think of the blogger Dooce, who got sacked for her blog comments. Now she is rich and famous....
What next then, registering your blog with Human Relations? I agree that people need to be held accountable for what they write, but opinions are something everyone has. What's the difference if they say they dislike thier company to someone in person, or online? Other than the potential for millions of people to peruse their online material, versus one person they talk to in person.
You can get fired for writing your opinion that your boss is a jerk? What about if you walk around work all day and tell everyone you work with? I can see if there are defamatory remarks, but otherwise simply expressing your opinion is hardly a matter for legislation...
I have mixed feelings about this, because I realize it's hurting the employer's name. However, the employee is doing this on her free time. I also know there's a policy that says she shouldn't be using the employer name too. Do you see why I struggle so much in HR? I'm not the "black and white" issue person like most HR individuals are.