LINGUA NON CORRUPTA ESSE: Anonymous letters and e-mails as a severe form of linguistic corruption (non-fiction book)

Communication theory teaches that every communication process consists of a sender and a receiver (Shannon and Weaver). It makes everything much easier if we can identify the sender and receiver immediately by its name. But there are forms of communication where the sender can’t be identified immediately or does not want to be identified. In many cases these letters or messages without a sender‘s name are typical for criminals, terrorists or private offenders.

You can compare this to anonymous telephone calls where the telephone operator wants to force you into a subscription trap. The caller does not want to take responsibility for his company or authority.

This methods of anonymous calls or letters is typical for crimes like blackmailing, letters of confession, private threats and intimidations. On the other hand, in the course of mass emails, e-mail marketing, client and customer management, people receive more and more anonymous letters and e-mails, even from governmental organization.

A good example is the German Jobcenter which belongs to the Welfare Office (Germ.: Bundesarbeitsagentur). This is a negative trend because you can’t sue the authors of these letters directly when they only carry the name of an institution. This can lead to a situation where official governmental letters seem like psycho-terror either wanted or unwanted. Clients can’t directly answer to letters which are anonymous or only carry the address of an authority and not the clear name of a responsible existing person who wrote the letter. It can be very frustrating for the receiver and society as a whole can take damage. This damage by incomplete or erroneous communication is not fully discussed in society because it would manifest a bad reputation of governmental offices. Politicians who implemented and granted these forms of anonymous communication are responsible but supress a discussion. It’s one oft he great dilemmas of the modern IT society. It can spoil the peaceful careless cooperation in a society. It can even lead to toxic communication.