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The Facebook real-name policy controversy is a controversy over
social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
site
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
's
real-name system A real-name system is a system in which users can register an account on a blog, website or bulletin board system using their legal name. Users are required to provide identification credentials and their legal name. A public pseudonym can also ...
, which requires that a person use their legal name when they register an account and configure their user profile. The controversy stems from claims by some users that they are being penalized by Facebook for using their real names, and have suffered adverse consequences as a result. For example, Facebook's naming policies prohibit names that Facebook judges to have too many words, too many capital letters, or first names that consist of initials. Facebook's monitoring software detects and suspends such accounts. These policies prevent some users from having a Facebook account and profile with their real name. As part of their complaint, those who cannot use their real names point out that millions of Facebook accounts use fake yet plausible-sounding names, and even fake and obviously implausible names, because Facebook's software fails to recognize them.


Background

The social networking website
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
has maintained the
real-name system A real-name system is a system in which users can register an account on a blog, website or bulletin board system using their legal name. Users are required to provide identification credentials and their legal name. A public pseudonym can also ...
policy for user profiles. According to Facebook, the real-name policy stems from the position "that way, you always know who you're connecting with. This helps keep our community safe." Likewise per this policy, a "real name" is defined by "your real name as it would be listed on your credit card, driver's license or student ID". In August 2012, Facebook estimated that more than 83 million Facebook accounts are fake accounts. As a result of this revelation, the share price of Facebook dropped below $20. Facebook has asserted that "authentic identity is important to the Facebook experience, and our goal is that every account on Facebook should represent a real person".


Affected users


Ethnic groups


Native Americans

Native Americans have been repeatedly targeted due to Facebook's policy. *Robin Kills The Enemy, a resident of the
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...
Rosebud reservation in South Dakota, found that when she tried to register her surname in its normal format, the site would not let her use them, so she resorted to combining the three words, spelling them as one word. After having been a member for some time, she eventually contacted the site in an attempt to have her surname spelled as it actually is in real life. However, after reaching out to Facebook, they instead deactivated her account without explanation. When she was finally able to make contact with an actual employee, they wrote back telling her "Fake names are a violation of our Terms of Use. Facebook requires users to provide their full first and last names". She eventually managed to have her account reinstated; however, users with the surname Kills The Enemy are, as of 2015, still required by Facebook to spell their surname without spaces as a single word. *Shane Creepingbear, an Oklahoman member of the
Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...
tribe, reported that he had been "kicked off" of Facebook on
Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...
for having a supposedly fake name. *Lance Brown Eyes, an
Oglala The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...
, found that his account had been suspended; when he was able to send in documentation to Facebook proving his identity, Facebook reinstated his account, but changed his name to "Lance Brown". *Dana Lone Hill, a member of the Lakota tribe who had been a registered Facebook user for several years, discovered one day that she had been locked out of her account. A message from Facebook said "it looks like the name on your Facebook account may not be your authentic name". After a week, during which she had to send in her personal documentation to Facebook, her account access was restored. She has since threatened a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Native Americans against Facebook due to how it exercises its name policies. A number of Native Americans have objected to Facebook's inquiries into their names, and to Facebook's request that they provide proof of identification or other documentation in order to use the service. Native American activists claimed to be planning to file a
class action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
against Facebook regarding the 'real name' policy.


Japanese

In 2008, a woman in Japan named Hiroko Yoda had her Facebook account suspended over her
surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
, which is common in Japan, being confused with a ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' character of the same name.


Irish

The
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
branch of the
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
rights group, Misneach, started a Change.org
online petition An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...
to demand the right to use Irish names on Facebook and protested outside Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin on October 7, 2015.


Scottish Gaelic

In 2015, Gabhan Mac A Ghobhainn, a retired policeman, won the right to use his Gaelic name on Facebook, although it was not his legal name. Some Scottish Gaelic surnames, such as NicIllAnndrais, contain more than two capital letters and , these still disallowed by Facebook.


Chamoru

In the Spanish-influenced indigenous Chamoru culture of the
Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
, the standard naming convention has historically been for a person to use their mother's
maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also use ...
as their middle name. (Chamoru culture, having been colonized by Spain, went through a period where indigenous names and naming conventions were forcibly eradicated and replaced by what the conquering Spanish deemed acceptable.) Furthermore, using one's full name rather than simply the first and last is commonplace, if only for disambiguation purposes due to a relatively small pool of surnames. Therefore, middle names such as De Leon Guerrero and De La Cruz are frequently encountered. However, attempting to register such names as one's middle name results in a message telling users that "Names can't have too many words." Therefore, many Chamoru users are forced to either run all of the words together as if they were one single word, or to initialize each word to a common acronym such as DLG or DLC. In cases where the acronym is employed, Facebook automatically changes to lower-case all letters except the first. (Use of periods, e.g. D.L.G., will result in a message telling users that "Profile names can't have too many periods.") Therefore, someone commonly known in real life by a name such as Mary De Leon Guerrero Mafnas would have to resort to using what on Facebook would end up being "Mary Dlg Mafnas". The message is not accompanied by an option to appeal the restriction or to send Facebook documentation that the format is how one normally formats their name in real life.


Vietnamese

In January 2015, a 23-year-old Australian bank employee claiming to be named Phuc Dat Bich posted a photo of his passport identification page to Facebook, protesting that the company had unfairly shut down his account for being "false and misleading". "Is it because I'm Asian? Is it?" he asked. The BBC reported that in Vietnamese the name is pronounced similarly to "Phoo Da Bi" (IPA: ). After his reinstatement, Bich posted a thank you note to supportive Facebook fans, stating he was "glad and honoured to be able to make people happy by simply making them laugh at something that appears outrageous and ridiculous". Subsequently "Phuc Dat" published a further message admitting it was a hoax.


Tamils

Tamils do not have surnames: They have their father or mother or both father and mother's first name as initials. This standard naming practice has not been acknowledged by Facebook.


Transgender users

Facebook's real-name policy does not reflect adopted names or
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...
s used by the
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
community, and has led to suspending users with real names that might be thought to be fake. A user via the anonymous Android and iOS app Secret began reporting "fake names" which caused user profiles to be suspended, specifically targeting the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
s of
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
s. Transgender people have also been affected by the policy, including one former Facebook employee who was one of several who worked on Facebook's custom gender options. According to gender non-conforming activist D. Dragonetti, Facebook even disregarded their government identification when supplied. On October 1, 2014, Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer at Facebook, offered an apology to the LGBT community and drag kings and queens:
In the two weeks since the real-name policy issues surfaced, we've had the chance to hear from many of you in these communities and understand the policy more clearly as you experience it. We've also come to understand how painful this has been. We owe you a better service and a better experience using Facebook, and we're going to fix the way this policy gets handled so everyone affected here can go back to using Facebook as you were.


Users in need of protecting their identity

Secular, atheist, agnostic, humanist, or users who comment or blog expressing views critical of particular religions, sects or religion in general, as well as religious people who express the opposing views critical of atheism or agnosticism may feel they have a legitimate need to use an alias. Some of these users fear they could suffer rejection, retaliation, or violence if their views – contrary to those of their family, friends, or community – are known. In some countries, secular bloggers were imprisoned, attacked in the street or even killed by religious fanatics. Examples are the incarceration of activist and blogger
Raif Badawi Raif bin Muhammad Badawi ( ar, رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website ''Free Saudi Liberals''. Badawi wa ...
in Saudi Arabia and a string of attacks and murders of secular activists in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
or Pakistan.


Reaction

International non-profit
digital rights Digital rights are those human rights and legal rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other electronic devices, and telecommunications networks. The concept is particula ...
group
Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ...
stated they were "alarmed to hear that Facebook's 'real name' policy is disproportionately affecting the LGBTQ community".
Online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer ma ...
''
Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...
'' called Facebook's policy "a frankly creepy overreach of authority", adding "There are a million reasons why someone would choose to self-identify with a name other than the one that's printed on their birth certificate. And really, it's absolutely none of your business in the first place." In an interview for MAGE Magazine, Second Life entrepreneur Jennifer Ceara Firehawk stated: "If we are not using our page to abuse or grief others they just need to leave us be. We are not hurting anyone… FB does not realize some SL people earn lindens to turn into RL (real life) money and that is how they make a living. Once you force a person to change the SL name they will lose money due to not being able to find them on FB or SL as they may use FB for their business or advertise. So they end up losing business and money."
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
drag performer The term "drag" refers to the performance of exaggerated masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someone ( ...
Olivia LaGarce started a Change.org
online petition An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...
titled "Allow performers to use their stage names on their Facebook accounts!"


Compromise to protect those with special circumstances

On December 15, 2015, Facebook announced in a press release that it would be providing a compromise to its real name policy after protests from groups such as the gay/lesbian community and abuse victims. The site is developing a protocol that will allow members to provide specifics as to their "special circumstance" or "unique situation" with a request to use pseudonyms, subject to verification of their true identities. At that time, this was already being tested in the U.S. Product manager Todd Gage and vice president of global operations Justin Osofsky also promised a new method for reducing the number of members who must go through ID verification while ensuring the safety of others on Facebook. The fake name reporting procedure will also be modified, forcing anyone who makes such an allegation to provide specifics that would be investigated and giving the accused individual time to dispute the allegation. When a Facebook user gets a Support Inbox message stating that they must provide identification, there is now a checkbox that let's them check off several circumstances (including ethnic member, transgender, physically threatened/stalked). However, many users have reported that this is just for show, and such special circumstances are repeatedly ignored, rendering their policy statement as nothing more than public relations. This measure was criticized by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ...
, who pointed out that it forces the most vulnerable users to reveal intimate details of their personal lives.


Notable accounts suspended

* Bebe Sweetbriar *
Heklina Heklina is the stage name of Stefan Grygelko, an American actor, drag queen, and entrepreneur in San Francisco. Grygelko's mother is Icelandic, and having been born in the U.S., he lived in Iceland in the 1980s; he named his drag character after ...
*
Sister Roma Sister Roma is an American drag queen activist, gay pornography director, fundraiser, entertainer and event host/emcee. He has been a member of San Francisco's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence since 1987. Career Roma was the long-time art direct ...
*
R. U. Sirius R. U. Sirius (born Ken Goffman in 1952) is an American writer, editor, talk show host, musician and cyberculture celebrity. He is best known as co-founder and original editor-in-chief of ''Mondo 2000'' magazine from 1989 to 1993. Before that he f ...


See also

*
Criticism of Facebook Facebook (and parent company Meta Platforms) has been the subject of criticism and legal action. Criticisms include the outsize influence Facebook has on the lives and health of its users and employees, as well as Facebook's influence on the wa ...
* Nymwars


References


Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Facebook real-name policy controversy 21st-century controversies Human names Identity management Internet privacy Pseudonyms Naming controversies Real-name policy