"Instead of bringing us all together in an omnipresent, multi-faceted discussion, the internet instead has made sectarianism an almost default position. The nature of mass debate has become solely binary,"says writer Patrick Ness in The Guardian. Funny enough he has a go at the comments in The Guardian's own website, but I really do think the comments apply elsewhere on the Internet. A culture of intolerance, fuelled by the (false) sense of anonymity that electronic communication provides, has a lot to do with it; astroturfing might well play a role, but I reckon any of us can be an idiot all by him or herself, regardless of someone artificially fanning the flames.
Not to self-censor is probably suicide these days. Intelligent people no longer need a censor's office to shut them up; that is the sorry state of public discourse these days. Sure, anyone is free to break ranks and speak his or her mind, but to do so all be him or herself may have even bigger costs. The age of transparency is fast becoming the age of the Panopticon.
How do we counter it?
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