Anonymous or multiple account creation: improve the safety of your online platform
Practical steps to manage the risk of online harm if your online platform allows people to create anonymous or multiple accounts.
Anonymous users are users that are unverified or unidentified, or have their account information wholly or partially hidden from a platform. Anonymous messaging is when an anonymous user sends text or other content to another user.
Multiple account creation means allowing your users to create and maintain more than one account on your platform.
This page will help you understand how anonymous or multiple account creation on a platform can create a risk to users’ safety, and how to manage those risks.
New online safety legislation is coming which will aim to reduce online harms. If you own or manage an online platform in scope of the forthcoming legislation, you will have a legal duty to protect users against illegal content. You will also have to put in place measures to protect children if they are likely to use your service.
Learn what an online harm is
Learn about your responsibilities if you own or manage an online platform or service.
7 step checklist to keep your business and users safe
Taking a safety by design approach
Learn about best practice design if your platform features:
Harms caused by anonymous or multiple accounts
Example of a harm that can happen if users can create anonymous accounts
An online forum lets users communicate with one another without verifying their accounts. Several users take advantage of this and set up anonymous accounts so they can send abusive messages to other users.
The platform is able to suspend users’ accounts when they breach the terms of service. However, offending users can easily create new accounts and continue sending abusive messages to other users.
How harms can happen if you allow anonymous or multiple accounts
There are legitimate reasons why a user may wish to protect their identity - for example, those in LGBT+ communities, whistleblowers and victims of domestic violence. There are also valid reasons for creating multiple accounts, such as for work and personal activity. But some users may use these functions to harm others online. For example, if users are able to: hide their true identity from others, some may be encouraged to engage in harmful behaviour create multiple accounts, they can make contact with others even if they have been asked to stop or have had a previous account disabled Harms that can occur as a result of anonymous or multiple accounts include:
-
cyberbullying and cyberstalking
-
child sexual exploitation and abuse
-
terrorist content
-
hate crime
-
disinformation
How to manage risks and harms if you allow users to create anonymous or multiple accounts
1. Know your users
Carefully consider the pros and cons for your platform of choosing to allow or disallow anonymous accounts.
If you do allow anonymous users, or multiple account creation, you could:
-
make users verify their accounts during account creation - for example, using two-factor authentication (2FA)
-
establish how old your users are using age assurance technology, such as age verification
Find out more about safety technology providers
2. Set safety settings to high by default
For users creating multiple accounts, you can do this by:
-
making sure users’ content is only visible to friends
-
restricting the ability to reduce safety levels for child accounts
-
prompting users when they message an unverified account, asking them to confirm they understand the risks before allowing them to continue
3. Make it easier to report harmful content or behaviour
Do this by making sure your reporting processes are:
-
available at relevant locations and times
-
easy to use and understand by users of all ages and abilities
You can also make sure users can also access appropriate support and resources for the type of harm they may have encountered.
4. Be clear if you need to block or suspend a user’s account
If an account needs to be blocked or suspended, you should tell the user why. For example, because they have broken your terms of service. If their account has been suspended you should also tell them how long the suspension will last, or if the suspension is permanent.
You should avoid giving users information that may help them evade a future block or suspension.
5. Consider restricting functionality for unverified accounts
You could consider preventing unverified users from using features such as:
-
live streaming
-
using encrypted messaging
-
sending messages to users under the age of 16
Part of Online safety guidance if you own or manage an online platform