Asking users to disclose personal mobile phone numbers while also at the same time denying access to those who don't have mobile phone subscriptions is in itself both abusive to end-user security and elitist. Not to mention the inequality that manifests when some states force mobile phone registration on their users and others do not.
This extreme hack (comparable to using a machine gun to kill a chicken) is motivated by a desire to easily control abusers, which implies that the whole system is inherently flawed-- flawed by the fact that useful content is cannot be separated from drivel by the rating system as it was designed.
It's also somewhat shocking that steemit does not recognize the important role anonymity plays with speech freedom that's critical to having a nanny-free community. This new direction makes steemit.com unsuitable for whistle-blowers and civil rights activists. Perhaps it was never intended as such, but it's a pity to see a good tool get downgraded to Facebook-quality blogging.
Selecting users who are not street-wise (and thus willing to connect personal info to their account) has the side-effect reducing the quality of posts to that of the intelligence of that crowd.
RE: The Problem with Byzantine Generals