Freedom to do these actions doesn’t exactly mean freedom from the consequences of them. We may have legal courts that will make it clear that doing something is okay by the law, but the court of public opinion is oftentimes divorced from legality. In the age of the internet, the court of public opinion has never been stronger. Breaking the law of the mob can result in some very severe consequences.

Even saying the wrong thing can result in the destruction of one’s life.

As such, many people on social media have opted to be anonymous, allowing them to speak as freely as possible without repercussions. People do this in many different fields. Some people just want to complain about their jobs or people they know without risking hurt feelings, alienation, or firing. Some people just like to troll others and that sense of anonymity gives them the advantage of being able to attack a person without having to suffer the same.

Some do so because of political reasons.

One such account is the Libs of TikTok, an account we’ve used here at RedState multiple times. Today, we’ve been discussing it because the left wanted to strip it of its anonymity and expose the person behind it. Why is easy to fathom.

If the person in the shadows is exposed, as well as the people around them, then perhaps they can be intimidated into silence. The left would love nothing more than to silence the “Libs of TikTok” account due to its effectiveness at exposing the left’s true believers, allowing people to get a glimpse of what the left truly believes without the filtering and refining their messages tend to go through before they reach the American public.

(READ: ‘Libs of TikTok’ Account Responds Accordingly After Formerly Tearful WaPo ‘Reporter’ Doxxes Them)

Depending on what side you’re on, you’ll have different reactions to this story. Currently, a lot of the right is declaring that having someone who wished to remain anonymous being exposed as they are is a grave social sin. The majority of the left is saying that someone being that influential in our society should not be able to hide.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, our opinion on this changes from event to event. Chances are, it’ll shift for each person in some way, shape, or form at some point.

Today, the right is all about keeping the information of those who wish to be anonymous private. Tomorrow, a person working behind the scenes at some company that has been forcing leftist politics or driving leftist opinion may have their info leaked and we’ll be glad of it. Moreover, we should be grateful that such info came to light because it allowed us to take steps to correct the problem.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that shoving anonymous people into the open is right in every case. I certainly don’t think it was in the case of the “Libs of TikTok” woman, and I especially don’t think it was right that her family was approached over her social media activities. But I do think that, at some point, it was bound to happen.

Right or wrong, when someone is that effective at making a point, especially a political one, their enemies will do all they can to drag their identity into the light, and to be honest, it’s not that hard. Some people on some websites have gotten very good at it. At some point, the “Libs of TikTok” owner was going to get exposed.

But the same methods by which she was exposed are the same methods by which we may catch someone who is actually doing something wrong, and I mean very wrong, not just wrong in the political sense. Therefore, screaming for total safety for the anonymous isn’t a good idea.

Total safety is never a good idea. That’s where rules and consequences come in, and the less of those, the better.

Freedom and chaos are cousins.