Certainly Steem(it) is and will remain permissionless. I'm not saying anywhere that it should be a requirement to verify yourself, and certainly don't think a picture verification is needed either (it wouldn't be useful for people other than public figures anyway).

 As a voter, I do want to know if someone is who they claim to be though. Again, it's all up to the voters, there's no policing here. If there's more financial incentive for people reposting their work to simply verify that they have editorial control over the original source or their known/active social accounts, I think it will be an easy and painless decision.