Letter to the editor: Nameless evil on social media

In response to the threat posted on Twitter Sept. 3, where an unidentified person indicated he or she would commit a hate crime at an undisclosed Pittsburgh hospital on Sept. 4 (“Online threat made to Pittsburgh-area hospital not credible, traced to teen,” Sept. 3, TribLIVE), I have one simple question: Why are there no calls for social media platforms to verify the identities of their users?

We hear endless calls for legislation against “hate speech” and for “more gun control.” “Hate speech” cannot be defined without obliterating the First Amendment. And “more gun control” is repeated by countless people who are clueless about existing federal and state gun laws.

So while every half-wit and celebrity virtue-signals on social media every time there is a tragedy, no one cares that these platforms facilitate the very evil they supposedly condemn. There is nary a word about forcing users to provide some form of verifiable identity to social media platforms, such as a credit card. Obviously this would diminish the volume and influence of platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

But isn’t that the point? If we’re going to have a mature conversation about preventing hate and evil in this world, it won’t be had with people whose only known identity is the “left testicle of the forbidden one.”

Alan Martin

Zelienople