The current FACEBOOK policy of requiring real names is deeply flawed and needs to be revised. As it stands, some people are being put at risk of grave personal danger by revealing their true identities. Vulnerable populations such as domestic violence victims, LBGTQA community members and countless others use their anonymity to shield themselves from their abusers, tormentors and other miscreants. https://www.change.org/p/facebook-cease-suspending-accounts-for-pseudonym-use Please sign this petition. A gay man recently lost access to his account on Facebook because of the reason above. He lives in Ethiopia. Ethiopian LGBT Activist Banned by Facebook Under Real Name Policy We need about 800+ more signatures. Help change this rule.
I'll sign. I agree 100%. I never have had facebook, this being among the reasons why: that I don't feel everyone needs to know who I am, unless I should choose to reveal that.
This is so dumb! Didn't the people at Facebook consider that this would put people at risk? I don't even understand why this is a rule to begin with. I'm glad I don't have Facebook. I would totally sign but I don't think I'm old enough to.
I signed it - hopefully it'll help force Facebook to make a change! If Facebook wants to ensure that every person only has one account or that their real or whatever their reason is, why can't they just have a setting where a person can write their real name (so that Facebook knows who they are I guess), but give them the option to not display that name and go by a different "public" name instead?
Fantastic! The more people we have that signs it, the better. We can stop this crazy rule one and for all.
My name on Facebook is what I go by in daily life and professionally but it's not my legal name yet. Technically, no one really knows unless you're reported by another user. But unfortunately, it's very easy to report a user.
This is exactly what the petition is trying to stop. Reporting users for absolutely no reason is quite unfair. Facebook need to verify that these users are real instead of randomly deleting their accounts based on one complaint.
@open arms -- no it's not illegal. Facebook's special rules are not laws. It breaks there rules, and can get you kicked, but it's not illegal. This policy pisses me off. There are many legitimate reasons to not use your real name in Facebook. I personally just think Facebook wants the control they get by having everyone's real names.
This. ^ Its worth more to advertisers when its real names and real accounts instead of just a bunch of anonymous unknowns.
I find this hilariously absurd since I've been using a web handle for my Facebook since day 1 so has one of my sisters and one of my cousins... And we have some obviously fake names...
If someone says, "You have to use your real name." My reaction is, Pfffft. What. Ever. Like how are you going to figure out if that's actually my real name or not??? Not that I even have a facebook account.
Facebook is becoming, if it has not already, the world's largest voluntary criminal database. Your voluntary participation is when you join -- after that, you're theirs to do with as they see fit. You can never truly delete your Facebook, just deactivate it. They'll keep all your information and whatnot. It didn't used to be like that, but little by little they add these steps and regulations, and it doesn't seem like a lot to deal with until, well, you no longer have the means to do anything.
