And these situations are different again from someone posting under their real name but referring to sources who agreed to be sources on the condition of anonymity
Yes, but I’m not sure in an important way? What do you see as the relevant differences between a case where Avery as ‘Alex’ writes a post about Pat, and an otherwise similar case where Avery acts as a source for a third party writing about Pat who agrees to use ‘Alex’ for them?
In the latter case it is the 3rd party driving the article, airing the accusations in a public forum, and deciding how they are framed, rather than Avery.
If, without the 3rd party, Avery would have written an essentially identical article then the differences aren’t relevant. But in the more likely case where Avery is properly a “source” for an article for which the 3rd party is counterfactually responsible, then the 3rd party also bears more responsibility for the effect of the article on Pat’s reputation etc. Fortunately, the 3rd party, not being anonymous, can be practically judged for their choices in writing the article, in the final accounting.
And these situations are different again from someone posting under their real name but referring to sources who agreed to be sources on the condition of anonymity
Yes, but I’m not sure in an important way? What do you see as the relevant differences between a case where Avery as ‘Alex’ writes a post about Pat, and an otherwise similar case where Avery acts as a source for a third party writing about Pat who agrees to use ‘Alex’ for them?
In the latter case it is the 3rd party driving the article, airing the accusations in a public forum, and deciding how they are framed, rather than Avery.
If, without the 3rd party, Avery would have written an essentially identical article then the differences aren’t relevant. But in the more likely case where Avery is properly a “source” for an article for which the 3rd party is counterfactually responsible, then the 3rd party also bears more responsibility for the effect of the article on Pat’s reputation etc. Fortunately, the 3rd party, not being anonymous, can be practically judged for their choices in writing the article, in the final accounting.