My real name is Ben Royce.

CaliCarol

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.

Patrick Georgi

@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".)

MFennVT

@afewbugs When I was using FB under another pseudonym several years ago, they demanded verification, so I faked a library card that I scanned and had friends send me snailmail addressed to the pseudonym. Worked like a charm. @Tesseks @benroyce

Fruits

@benroyce

Funny how it's always public figures who call for an end to anonymity. Being a public figure, in most cases, is a choice.

1a1nC

@benroyce So smart people of the fediverse -- What's the solution to letting real people be anonymous when they need to be, whilst getting rid of the anonymous bot farms and trolls?

zetabeta

@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.

HighlandLawyer

@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.

Christine M.

@benroyce

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.

canleaf08 ⌘ ✅

@benroyce The same party proposed “Stop signs” and “licence plates” for the internet.

2something@transfem.social

@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.

2something@transfem.social

@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.

2something@transfem.social

@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.

Netraven

@Orlaya @benroyce I'd legally change my name to something like John Smith or whatever there's already a million of within 500 miles.

Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽

@benroyce

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.

Orlaya

@Netraven @benroyce
Maybe there is a way to have an artists name like that and use it.

Netraven

@Orlaya @benroyce

In a perfect world, everyone would change their name to Friedrich Merz.

Orlaya

@Netraven @benroyce

Friederike Schmerz.

teacher_rick 🇪🇺

@benroyce I agree with you

Theodorus on Mastodon

@benroyce nope! Nobody needs to know my name. Well it’s Theodorus…. But who cares about the rest.

Mad A. Argon :qurio:

@xinit @benroyce Real World matters... Until it's about climate change and how it requires systemic changes to protect environment. Then they willingly look at other side and pretend nothing is happening.

Wandering Adventure Party

My real name is Ben Royce.

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet

Germany's Merz calls for real names on the internet