Pretty sure I've mentioned Sam Floreani's story about online anonymity in the past, but it's worth mentioning and reading again. It argues that forcing people to use their "real name" and create social media accounts with 100 points of ID is a terrible idea and we lose more than we gain when implementing these reactionary ideas. They tried it in South Korea and it achieved nothing. We have a Real Name policy on Facebook and people still post death threats and run scams. Researchers have studied cyberbulling and reckon removing anonymity makes almost no difference to the level and severity of abuse. But requiring government ID to use social media makes it difficult for dissidents, activists and protestors to do their work anonymously. It makes life hard for members of the LGBTQ+ community who wish to remain secret. Is it really worth sacrificing these benefits of anonymity when its removal doesn't really solve the thing those in positions of power promise it will?
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