When the Communications Decency Act came out of Washington I believed it was possible to counteract the forces of fear with sheer numbers. The mail list AOL, a sponsor of the project, ran a mail list for people who were participating. I requested that participants use the list to coordinate work and express political opinions on their websites, not on the mail list. The purpose of the project was to show the power of the web, not the power of email. My theory, then as now, is that the web is a far more effective medium.
People seem more careful about what they say.
As the guest-host of the mail list, I repeatedly asked the other guests to stay on topic. Then the flames started coming directly at me. No good deed goes unpunished, or so it seemed at the time. I doubt it. In the middle of the attacks I kept thinking of the silent ones.