Editing Anonymous remailer (section)

==Remailer abuse and blocking by governments ==
{{expand section|date=October 2012}}
Although most re-mailer systems are used responsibly, the anonymity they provide can be exploited by entities or individuals whose reasons for anonymity are not necessarily benign.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Recommendations for Anonymous Remailer Policy at Oberlin College|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~burnsm/remailers.html|access-date=2021-09-04|website=www.cs.cmu.edu|archive-date=2021-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904002515/https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~burnsm/remailers.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Such reasons could include support for violent extremist actions,{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} sexual exploitation of children {{citation needed|date=October 2012}} or more commonly to frustrate accountability for 'trolling' and harassment of targeted individuals, or companies (The Dizum.com re-mailer chain being abused as recently as May 2013{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} for this purpose.)

The response of some re-mailers to this abuse potential is often to disclaim responsibility (as dizum.com does<ref name="DZ">{{cite web|url=https://dizum.com/help/usenet.html |title=DIZUM FAQ |access-date=November 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710023752/http://dizum.com/help/usenet.html |archive-date=July 10, 2010 }}</ref>), as owing to the technical design (and ethical principles) of many systems, it is impossible for the operators to physically unmask those using their systems. Some re-mailer systems go further and claim that it would be illegal for them to monitor for certain types abuse at all.<ref name="DZ"/>

Until technical changes were made in the remailers concerned  in the mid-2000s, some re-mailers (notably nym.alias.net based systems) were seemingly willing to use any genuine (and thus valid) but otherwise forged address.  This loophole allowed trolls to mis-attribute controversial claims or statements with the aim of causing offence, upset or harassment to the genuine holder(s) of the address(es) forged.

While re-mailers may disclaim responsibility, the comments posted via them have led to them being blocked in some countries. In 2014, dizum.com (a [[Netherlands]]-based remailer) was seemingly blocked by authorities in Pakistan,{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} because comments an (anonymous) user of that service had made concerning key figures in Islam.