Findings
The aim of the visualization is to show which are the principal topics in the controversy. It is possible to understand which are the most relevant in the battlefield.
The First Amendment is the most mentioned argument (it is important to remember that the research was conducted on google.com) and Facebook its immediate follower. Otherwise the heaviest categories are services and case studies. Regarding the services category, the most mentioned are Facebook, Twitter and the Huffingtion Post because of their recent policies changes that have led to hot discussions. Facebook, the "transparent" social network, is realising a new social network named "Rooms" allowing anonymous posting. Twitter is on the opposite side of Facebook. The Huffington Post recently decided to delete the possibility to post anonymously. Different directions for different social services.
The case studies category is a big one but it is composed by a lot of not so mentioned case studies. The McIntyre v. Ohio Election Commission is the most relevant (even if it is a 1995 court case) because of it is often mentioned in new court cases.
Technologies are not so important for the research because they are not linked directly to the freedom of speech. The regulations category is, instead, an interesting one. In Usa there are not laws or rules directly regulating anonymity. For that reason the First Amendment of the Constitution of United States is often used in defence of anonymous speech. The second important block according to the amount of articles mentioning it is the "Real name verification law". This is a law introduced in China and Korea against anonymity in avoidance of the freedom of speech.
This visualization is an important tool to understand the structure of the controversy and the actors playing in it.
