American gets meaner about what is needed to log in (8)
I believe the answer is:
username
'what is needed to log in' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'american gets meaner about' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'gets' says to put letters next to each other.
'about' indicates anagramming the letters.
'meaner' anagrammed gives 'ername'.
'us'+'ername'='USERNAME'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for username that I've seen before include "One's identifier on a computer" , "Something needed for logging in" , "Electronic identity" , "Login ID" , "Online identity" .)