Greece's Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou just announced plans to require real identity verification for all social media accounts, citing "online toxicity." His actual justification: "In ancient Greece, citizens expressed their opinions openly and by name."
Yes. He cited ancient Athens. To justify a 2026 surveillance law. The minister is also pushing for this to go EU-wide.
The question: is this about toxicity, or is it about a government heading into 2027 elections that wants to know who's criticizing them online? Whistleblowers, journalists, abuse survivors, dissidents, they all rely on anonymity. "Freedom of expression should not mean freedom from accountability," says the government.
What do you think, legitimate safety measure or just Chat Control's uglier cousin?