"if you don't want to have your camera on you are asked not to participate" This policy is cruel and needlessly authoritative. I work in a highly international

"if you don't want to have your camera on you are asked not to participate" This policy is cruel and needlessly authoritative. I work in a highly international context and have learned that both culturally and individually, people have different comfort levels regarding expressing themselves. Some are fine with cameras on, some prefer voice only. Some are so introverted that they prefer chat, and some are even only comfortable with private chat. "If you can't be bothered to have your camera on in meetings then you probably shouldn't be in that meeting in the first place." Good, stop inviting me then, I'd imagine a response might be. I personally have about 3 voice-only meetings per day, but I guess according to your view, I shouldn't bother at all. I successfully lead a team of 12 this way, located across the globe. People can do whatever they want (camera, audio, chat), and it works fine. Your all or nothing view seems a dramatized personal preference, and nothing else. "and then to figure out who says what" I don't know what software you use but both in Zoom and Teams you can see who speaks. I would also assume that if your team is so small that you recognize voices. "and to keep a conversation going" If you need to keep a conversation going, you may want to rethink the point of the meeting.