Chancellor Merz wants to end anonymity online and warns of artificial intelligence as a threat to free society. He also desires more "happiness at work."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) wants to end widespread anonymity on the internet. "I want to see real names on the internet," Merz said on Wednesday evening at the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU's Ash Wednesday political rally in Trier.
"In politics, we engage in debates in our society using our real names and with complete transparency. I expect the same from everyone else who critically examines our country and our society," the 70-year-old continued. He added that proponents of online anonymity are "often enough people who, under the guise of anonymity, demand the greatest possible transparency from others."
Merz fears for the youth
The CDU leader said that free society is in danger. He completely underestimated what is possible through algorithms and artificial intelligence "in terms of targeted and controlled influence from within and also and especially from without, and the erosion of the spirit of our free society."
Merz pointed to the high amount of time children and young people spend using social media. "Do we want to allow our society to be eroded from within in this way, and for our youth and our children to be endangered in this way?"
He said that those responsible were "enemies of our freedom, the enemies of our democracy, the enemies of an open and free liberal society."
A ban on social media for children and teenagers?
The 70-year-old had previously also advocated for a social media ban for minors. Personality deficits in young people are not surprising, he said, "when children as young as 14 have up to five hours or more of screen time a day," Merz told the political podcast "Machtwechsel."
A motion from the Schleswig-Holstein state association has been submitted for the CDU party conference starting on Friday. It recommends setting the minimum age for using Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and similar platforms at 16, "accompanied by mandatory age verification."
"Let's all pull together"
Ahead of the CDU party conference, Merz advocated for a shift in mentality towards greater willingness to perform. Germany wouldn't have its current prosperity "if our parents had approached work with the mentality we sometimes see today," Merz said accusingly, drawing the potentially painful conclusion: "If we want to maintain our prosperity, then we all have to pull together now."
If it were up to Merz, this change should happen "not through coercion, not through pressure, not through new laws, but simply through a positive attitude towards work."
Translated by Google Translate.
Posted by IHateTrains123
6 Comments
man look at the shit people say on facebook with their full government name and face and full network of friends and family
Taking away anonymity muzzles a lot of important speech. The pendulum swings both ways, it protects racist trolls but also whistleblowers and those that fear unjust retaliation. What if you’re gay and from a really homophobic family?
It also brings a lot of privacy concerns – it’s totally possible to doxx people and to track them across different anonymous accounts, but let’s not make it easier for malicious actors to do so.
The first problem is that requiring government names favors whoever’s powerful right now. The second problem is that plenty of people are willing to spout misinformation and dipshittery under their legal names. The third problem is that even after all these years, the internet still interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.
Tangentially related, I judge Reddit users with a “curated profile”. Instantly makes me think the person is a kremlin bot
Go back to massachusetts, pinko!
>”often enough people who, under the guise of anonymity, demand the greatest possible transparency from others.”
He must be talking about politicians like himself who further the surveillance state but refuse to disclose their side incomes.