Tech Gets Real

Germany's Merz wants to end online anonymity: A rant

Tech Gets Real

Show Notes

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed forcing people to post online using their real names. I can see what he’s trying to achieve but it won’t work, and it will just open Germans up to a new level of danger – especially as the far right comes closer to taking power.

Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful.

To contact me, please email [email protected] or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.bsky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites

REFERENCE:

DPA on Merz’s Wednesday speech https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/germanys-merz-calls-real-names-211340863.html

More from Tech Gets Real

Oct 15, 2026

European banks really do have to refund customers who lose money in phishing scams, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in a Polish case. The CJEU’s decision is a big deal for phishing victims who until now have usually been forced to take the hit themselves.

Oct 6, 2026

Norway is about to ban camera-equipped smart glasses such as Meta AI Glasses from many public spaces, and a Dutch eyewear retailer is dropping the category from its lineup, because of social and legal pushback. Can a company like Meta, which has many privacy scandals under its belt and which is close to the Trump administration, get around this kind of resistance?

Sep 24, 2026

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham used a major UN speech to announce a pushback against Russian online disinformation campaigns that fuel far-right unrest in the UK. We need to see the details, because there’s a risk of fueling far-right persecution claims if this is not handled with care.

Sep 18, 2026

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday proposed a wide-ranging “alliance for the future” between his country and the European Union. It was all about self-preservation in the face of Trump’s America – and a lot of it was about tech sovereignty, particularly regarding AI and its infrastructure.

Sep 10, 2026

Anthropic has not given UK and European AI officials access to Mythos 5.1, its latest powerful model, seemingly because the Trump administration won’t allow it. There’s no easy explanation for this – especially as OpenAI is being allowed to grant similar access to its latest model,

See all episodes →