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The impact of a real name policy on any individual’s behavior also really depends on how common their name is. For someone with a unique name it means others can instantly know their real identity. For someone whose name is shared by tens or hundreds of thousands of others around the world, they are effectively still totally anonymous.

Even a common name can be helpful when trying to locate someone. I've given some sparse personal information on Hacker News that would definitely allow someone to find me should they know my name, even though there are thousands of people in the US alone that share it.

It's not a question of being an objectively awful person; it's a question of being an "awful" person in the eyes of rabid ideologue activists looking to dox and cancel anyone who blasphemes their beliefs.

'real name policy' could also mean kyc and then you'd still be able to appear under a pseudonym.