Is is safer or actaully more dangerous to publish Anonymously in the 21st Century?

[The2ndAmendment]

Suppose that someone intended to publish an incendiary document like Thomas Paine's Common Sense; would this person be safer from government retribution by shielding their identity by publishing anonymously?

Or, because the government possesses so much technology to uncover the identity of the anonymous author anyway, is the author safer declaring his identity to everyone, so if anything were to happen to him, someone would notice and report the story?

EDIT:
Keep in mind that anonymously publishing is also done to prevent critics from attacking the source/person who published the information on a personal level. Given how much spin artists on both sides focus on the source instead of the story, would it be worth publishing such an incendiary document anonymously anyway, even is it puts you at greater risk of government retribution?

 

[Circe]

Would anyone notice if you did publish a pamphlet inciting to violence?

There's so much of that on the Internet now anyway I doubt anyone would care, government or private citizens.

There's a trial on now of a policeman who conspired to slow cook and eat a lot of women in New York, women he was already establishing relationships with and inviting out.....and he may get off. So I am not impressed at the danger you are in whatever you publish.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

Great Circe, so in your opinion, if Thomas Paine were alive today under the same circumstances in his era, would he be safer publishing anonymously or making his identity known?

 

[PaulS1950]

In his era one could actually remain anonimous but in todays world the identity of an author is easily dicovered by law enforcement agencies.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

That's what I thinking. I wonder if you submitted a typed version manually to a news agency, from a non-network based computer, if they could figure it out.

 

[Circe]

Great Circe, so in your opinion, if Thomas Paine were alive today under the same circumstances in his era, would he be safer publishing anonymously or making his identity known?

It is an interesting question.

I think you are asking whether it is safer to TRY to stay anonymous, and maybe succeed, or whether it is safer to put it out with an open source and depend on the "no political prisoners" rule of free speech.

I thought of the Unabomber -- it took fully ten years for the government to catch him, though he put out a lot of manifestos. They were not after him for the manifesto stuff, though, but for his letter-bombing so many people.

I'm trying to think what could be incendiary or inciting enough to endanger the writer in this day when so much violent invective is already published via Internet. Calling for assassination? Calling for ethnic cleansing of thousands or millions? Muslim writings are already quite explicit about all that, but since they are usually in Arabic no one much cares, apparently. Maybe if explicit calls to kill were in English it would be more of a free speech problem for the government? Does anyone know?

I would think it's basically a Unabomber problem: that is, they wouldn't get you for the printed material so much as for any crime committed because of what you've published.

 

[PaulS1950]

That's what I thinking. I wonder if you submitted a typed version manually to a news agency, from a non-network based computer, if they could figure it out.

Using an old fashion typewriter the defects in the type are traceable back to that typwriter. Using a modern printer the printer places an ID tag on the page that includes the serial number and date of manufacture. sending it electronically is a dead giveaway. Your DNA or fingerprints on the paper and envelope are also traceable. If you use a commercialprinter annonomously and pay in cash then you may be able to publish one or two pieces without it becoming traceable but by the third time you have left enough evidence to trace yourself.
The style of writing and the attitudes can also be traced to your education and even your location in the world, country and state or province. References to seemingly "normal" things can point back to you as an individual.
It is likely to be nearly impossible to publish anything without it being a tool to trace your work back to you.

 

[Grandma]

But they would have to have the typewriter or printer in their possession, meaning that they were already on to you. If you use a generic writing style, type on an offline computer, print on an offline printer, go months in advance to several different stores and post offices to buy stamps and envelopes, paying in cash, then mail your manifestos from several different locations located away from security cameras, and if some of those letters went to groups of people that would copy them and send those copies out, it could be impossible to trace the original source.

 

[editec]

I suspect that the more effectively disseminated your incendiary documents are, the more likely the government will be to track down the author.

 

[PaulS1950]

The original question was is it safer to....
It is safe to write in either format unless what you are writing is or could be interpreted as illegal in which case it would be safer to keep it to yourself.

For instance; I could write on my opinion of the state of our freedoms or economy without being concerned about having my identity found out and something happening to me. On the other hand if I was to publish papers on how to construct improvised explosive devices or an atomic bomb, I could expect a call from the BATFE with a warrant to search my home for materials to construct such devices. Whether or not they could charge me with anything (not having those things) in relation to my writings in this day and age is a question that would probably be answered in court. The laws concerning free speech have been limited to exclude recipes for explosives and how to construct dangerous devices so it might be possible to arrest and convict on some kind of charge.
So, my question is what topic would you write about that you would be concerned about safety for yourself and safety from whom?

 

[The2ndAmendment]

So, my question is what topic would you write about that you would be concerned about safety for yourself and safety from whom?

Ask Michael Hastings...

Wait, he's dead.

 

[arKangel]

Since certain totalitarian people would equate any mere question of the government as posting "papers on how to construct improvised explosive devices or an atomic bomb"...

Well,
The answer to the question of the OP is obvious.
If you cannot express your opinion anonymously, then you may not express it at all.