> Any solution that can convince the Germans, the most privacy obsessed sticklers on the whole planet, has my support by proxy. If they think it's safe enough, it most likely is. Almost no other country has seen the dark side of what you're saying here as much as Germany, first with the Nazis and then in East Germany.

As a German citizen myself I argue that the more correct view of this is that the Germans are going back to their fascistic roots.

> Both Brexit and the Trump election have been significantly impacted by this, and it's not even controversial to observe that.

Yeah and most of that online chatter that made that happen originated from adult citizens that would not be blocked by online identification laws.

> Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that we should not address the elephant in the room - the seriously degrading impact that social media has on our society.

Well if you agree with my point then that would imply that foreign social media influence operations are not actually the elephant in the room. I think a convincing case that these measures would meaningfully improve the political climate has a much higher burden of proof.

> There was no debate because almost no one in (for example) tech circles is even acknowledging the problem, let alone coming up with a solution. Give me a better solution and I would argue for that instead. The status quo is unacceptable.

This "well we must do something" attitude where people are willing to accept anything that promises to solve some problem is how the worst laws are created. It's easy to forget that things can always be made worse too.