MetaCity Has Permanently Deleted Anonymous Avatar Mode Following a Regulatory Mandate — All 847 Million Accounts Must Display a Persistent Identity

MetaCity announced this morning that Anonymous Avatar Mode — the feature allowing users to browse, post, and interact without displaying any account-linked identity markers — has been permanently removed from the platform. The removal was described as a response to a mandate from the Digital Spaces Protection Authority, which required MetaCity to ensure all public-facing interactions on the platform are traceable to a verified account. Anonymous mode had been active since MetaCity's launch. Approximately 340 million accounts used it regularly. MetaCity's announcement included no transition period: the feature was removed at 7:00 AM EST, simultaneous with the announcement. Users who were in anonymous mode at 7:00 AM were reverted to their standard account identity without notification.

Anonymous Avatar Mode was not a minor feature. Since MetaCity's launch, it had served as the platform's primary privacy layer — the mechanism by which users could explore, attend events, post reactions, and participate in community discussions without every interaction being logged against their permanent account record. MetaCity's own 2025 platform usage report described it as one of the platform's most-used privacy features, with 340 million regular users. Its removal was not telegraphed: yesterday's mandatory age verification announcement made no mention of it, and this morning's removal announcement was the first indication that the feature was under regulatory pressure. At 7:00 AM EST, the feature was removed. At 7:00 AM EST, MetaCity published the announcement explaining why. The two events were simultaneous.

The Digital Spaces Protection Authority's traceability requirement is the stated basis for the removal. The DSPA's guidance, issued in January, requires that platforms hosting virtual social environments ensure all public-facing interactions are attributable to a verified account identity. MetaCity's legal team interpreted this as incompatible with anonymous mode's core function — the deliberate separation of an interaction from the account identity that performed it. Whether this interpretation is correct, or whether a pseudonymous mode that maintained regulatory traceability on the backend while preserving user-facing anonymity would have satisfied the DSPA requirement, is a question that MetaCity's announcement did not engage with. Several privacy advocates have argued that a backend-only traceability solution was technically feasible and would have preserved the user experience. MetaCity removed the feature instead.

340 Million Users. No Transition Period. The Feature Was Gone When They Woke Up.

The absence of a transition period is the aspect of the removal that has generated the most immediate community anger. MetaCity's announcement acknowledged that the removal 'may be disruptive' for users who relied on anonymous mode, but did not explain why a transition period — in which users would have been notified that the feature would be removed and given time to adjust their platform behavior accordingly — was not provided. Community members have noted that yesterday's age verification announcement came with a 90-day transition window and extensive documentation, while today's anonymous mode removal came with no warning at all. The contrast has been characterized as demonstrating that MetaCity's communication choices are determined by regulatory urgency rather than user consideration. MetaCity has not responded to this characterization.

The long-term implications of the removal extend beyond the immediate disruption. Anonymous mode was the mechanism by which many users participated in discussions they would not have joined under their primary identity — political discussions, personal disclosures, criticism of powerful community figures, and exploration of spaces outside their normal social circle. With anonymous mode gone, every interaction a user makes is permanently attached to their account record. Several community researchers have noted that the removal creates a chilling effect on platform participation: users who previously felt comfortable posting controversial or vulnerable content under anonymous protection may now self-censor. Whether this effect will be measurable in MetaCity's engagement data over the coming months is an open question. MetaCity's announcement made no reference to it.