Prior to question period, the Tory MP used his member's statement to suggest Parliament should act to regulate anonymous commentary online.
"Yesterday I read the comments of hundreds of anonymous posters online and was frankly shocked and saddened by the level of vitriolic hatred and personal attacks that were freely posted," Del Mastro said. "While I believe firmly that the right to free speech must be strongly defended and protected, I also believe it should be backed up by the common decency to stand by one's words as opposed to hiding behind online anonymity."
Del Mastro, parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, continued: "Anonymous online attacks are, in my view, cowardly but they are no less hurtful and represent a caustic scourge that is harming too many in our society. I am deeply concerned by what I have witnessed online and saddened by the impact it is having on the lives of too many Canadians. I believe that this is an issue this place must consider.
On Thursday afternoon, Del Mastro posted similar sentiments on Facebook, but seemed to link them to recent attention for online bullying following the suicide of Amanda Todd.
"One of the best ways to end on-line and electronic bullying, libel and slander would be to force people posting hurtful comments to properly identify themselves," Del Mastro wrote. "This morning I read comments on a news story posted on an electronic news publication, many of them could only be described as hateful rants. The common denominator is that none of them identified the person that wrote them; this strikes me as something that parliament should address."
Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: Michael Bolen
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