My real name is Ben Royce.
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@benroyce No coincidence that a majority of those pushing for full names online are in positions of some power and influence - whether through being prominent experts in their fields, tenured professors, media figures, politicians, journalists, thought leaders, or whatever - which insulates them to some extent from coordinated campaigns of abuse and harassment.
Others can have their livelihoods destroyed by malicious actors, be targeted by autocratic regimes, are victims of stalkers, etc.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
I got connected to Substack to read an article and I put in my real name. There's a comment/social media aspect to it. Old timers decry it and I get it. It's my only American-based platform for political commentary now and I don't pull punches. But I had to change my handle when a person in my small industry connected to me! The algorithm started suggesting more. Egads! It's a solid rule in business that you avoid politics. So no, Merz. People need to be able to post anonymously.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce Merz is white as American toast, old as fuck, privileged like few others. For his facilities to empathy, look no further than his CV, which mainly consists of eating snacks in BlackRot meetings while passing around his political address book (while demanding that employees in Germany ought to work more to push the GNP).
No, all these (very valid!) reasons you list simply don't exist in the world of a Friedrich Merz.
(also of note: The anglosaxon world is rather relaxed about name changes, to the point that some Australian state had to add some "not more than once per year and not more than 3 in a life time, if you can help it" restriction. Names are regulated _a lot_ in Germany, from what the parents can choose to what naming combinations can result from marriage to "you better have a _really_ good reason for asking for any non-marriage related name change, and we will fight you every step of the journey".)
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@Tesseks @benroyce it does get enforced, I have a friend whose (real) name is the same as a character in a popular movie franchise and she's had to provide pictures of her official government ID to Facebook even before all the ID verification stuff came in to avoid having her account suspended. Repeatedly, which makes no sense at all but apparently they didn't keep a record of the first time
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
Funny how it's always public figures who call for an end to anonymity. Being a public figure, in most cases, is a choice.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce
slightly offtopic:first and last name is not enough to individualize people, so it is bad identifier anyway. in most countries people cannot easily change their legal name.
this is widespread issue that some people think that first and last name is enough for individualization.
this idea is bad for anonymity reasons as well.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce
The name one answers to is one's "real name".Also pseudonymity is not the same as anonymity: ask Samuel Clemens or Eric Blair.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
That plus (possibly) age restrictions which mandate giving an ID (which could be a scan of named ID papers) open up the road to full user transparency. The right to privacy - so important and enshrined in law e.g. in the EU - is on the way to being overturned, if things turn bad.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce The same party proposed “Stop signs” and “licence plates” for the internet.
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@benroyce
slightly offtopic:first and last name is not enough to individualize people, so it is bad identifier anyway. in most countries people cannot easily change their legal name.
this is widespread issue that some people think that first and last name is enough for individualization.
this idea is bad for anonymity reasons as well.
@zetabeta@mastodon.social @benroyce@mastodon.social
There seems to be a belief by some cis people that "legal names" are magic.
I remember back when Twitter's "verified" users meant something, there were a fair number of people who asked "why is it limited to celebrities? Why can't they just verify anyone who sends in their driver's license?"
It was difficult for a lot of people to understand that the Twitter-users who followed the movie star Chris Evans weren't following him because his legal name is Chris Evans: they were following him because he's a movie star. -
My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce@mastodon.social It's interesting that politicians are always trying to hold ordinary people on the internet to standards they never hold traditional giant publishers. Penguin Random House (whose parent company is German) publishes books by pseudonymous authors all the time. And it's a "privately held" company: the shareholders don't have to reveal their ownership.
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if there is they are sick of this shit more than us
@benroyce@mastodon.social @simonwilliamson@mastodon.world
There was a segment on The Daily Show many years ago where they found ordinary people with the same names as top politicians and got them to talk about how much they hate being associated with the people who share their names. -
@benroyce
I would stop posting if I had to publish my real name. There are too many idiots who harass and stalk people with different opinions. My name is too unique, so these people could find me.
And in less friendly environments, I have found that posting under a name that does not reveal that you are a woman is much less stressful.FCKUFriedrich.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
Anonymity is part of privacy, and privacy - the right to own one's body and data, and to decide who to share it with, is a human right.
When that right is transgressed, the person is 'owned' by someone else.
A serf, an indentured servant, a slave.
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce I agree with you
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My real name is Ben Royce. I frequently shoot my mouth off on Mastodon. I don't fucking care
That's a luxury many people don't have
Some are trans and live in the USA
Some are in sensitive domestic or work situations
Some are exploring themselves and don't want humiliation or regret following them if they fuck up
Lots of valid reasons for #anonymity
So no Mr. #Merz, that's a stupid idea, fuck off
"#Germany's Merz calls for real names on the Internet"
Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for an end to widespread anonymity on the internet, saying users should post under their real names. "I want to see real names on the internet.
Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com)
@benroyce nope! Nobody needs to know my name. Well it’s Theodorus…. But who cares about the rest.
