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Should anonymity online be protected?

14th - 21st March 2025

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54505

Total votes

12892

5-11 votes

41613

11-16+ votes

With young people spending more time online than ever before, we thought it was important to facilitate discussions in the classroom about how to stay safe online. The lessons focused on anonymity specifically, as this particular area can be both beneficial for keeping young people safe and the cause of a lot of online harm. They looked at the positive example of Mats Steen, who was able to live a deeply enriching life as Ibelin Redmoore in the game World of Warcraft, alongside the more sinister example of anonymous online trolling aimed at celebrities, such as Ariana Grande during the Wicked press tour.

Secondary & College voters discussed: "Should anonymity online be protected?", while Primary 7-11 voters were asked: “Should people be allowed to be anonymous online?”, and Primary 5-7 voters considered: “Should people always use their real name online?”

58,011 young people in the UK have taken part in this vote.

Age 5-11 voter

People should remain anonymous online so that their identity can be protected. I also think that people will feel safer giving their opinions [and they] won't feel pressure to follow what others say.

Age 11-16 voter

Has anyone ever used anonymity in a positive way on social media??? Many people use it to spread hate speech!

Age 11-16 voter

It should be anonymous but the website should be able to see who you are. It is important to have online anonymity because you do not want people knowing who you are. People have a right to privacy.

71% of 7-11-year olds agreed that anonymity online is important, particularly for young people.

  • 5-7-year olds were discussing the question, "Should people always use their real name online?" and 74% said 'No'.
  • 7-11-year olds were considering, "Should people be allowed to be anonymous online?" and 71% said 'Yes'.
74% of Secondary and College students believe that it's important to have the option to be anonymous online.

  • Secondary, College and older students were discussing the question, "Should anonymity online be protected?"
  • 73.6% of Secondary students and 74.1% of College and older students voted 'Yes'.
Many used gaming as an example of positive anonymity, as some games enable communication with strangers.

  • They argued in favour of anonymity because it can protect people, particularly children, from strangers and scammers online.
  • Many argued that there are other ways to tackle abusive or unkind comments on social media platforms. These included having personal information anonymous to the public but available to the police or platform owners.
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