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i have simply assumed that the purpose of this requirement generally is for the platform owner to establish your real identity for monetization and/or indemnification, and that any benefit to the user is incidental.

who ever said that "security" meant yours? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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It's more of a bot prevention mechanism than identification, however, I believe it encourages people to be more responsible for what they post also.

Well a captcha does just that without a phone number.

People will think twice about posting threats, child porn, and other illicit things when they have some skin in the game. This definitely cuts down on moderation requirements.

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