Facebook will soon improve its controversial 'real name' policy

[midian182]

Facebook has announced that it will make several improvements to its policy that requires members to use their real or ‘authentic’ names on profiles. The social network giant said it will start testing the alterations in December.

Facebook’s ‘real names’ policy has come under fire from members of the LGBTQ community and civil liberties groups who say certain individuals are unfairly targeted by the restrictions and often have their accounts suspended. Facebook’s vice president of growth, Alex Schultz, published a letter obtained by BuzzFeed where he acknowledged the current policy doesn’t work for everyone. Schultz said that the company would add new tools that improve how users confirm their name on Facebook when signing up, and make it more difficult for trolls to target individuals.

The changes will mean that users who are asked to confirm their name will be able to add additional details to provide context. “This should help our Community Operations team better understand the situation,” said Schultz. “It will also help us better understand the reasons why people can’t currently confirm their name, informing potential changes we make in the future.”

Furthermore, any Facebook member who wants to report profiles for using non-authentic names will now be required to provide the company with more information about why they are reporting someone. Advocates say that this way of flagging profiles has been abused in the past, and it’s hoped that the change will lessen the likelihood of it being used as a weapon to lock people out of their accounts.

Despite the changes, Facebook has no intentions of dropping the policy and still believes it is the best method for keeping the platform a safe place. “When people use the name others know them by, they are more accountable for what they say, making it more difficult to hide behind an anonymous name to harass, bully, spam or scam someone else,” Schultz said.

Facebook will also be looking at ways to provide more personalized support and appeal options to those users whose accounts have been suspended.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/62631-facebook-controversial-real-name-policy.html

 

[DaveBG]

I will never use my name anywhere on the internet and it does not matter how much these spamers want it I will not provide it.

 

[cliffordcooley]

That's funny I don't have a spam problem and I use my name everywhere. It's not about using your fake/real name, it's about where you visit.

 

[psycros]

That's funny I don't have a spam problem and I use my name everywhere. It's not about using your fake/real name, it's about where you visit.

Ridiculous.

 

[psycros]

I will never use my name anywhere on the internet and it does not matter how much these spamers want it I will not provide it.

Amen. We all know the only reason they want our names is so they can charge spammers more. Facebook's third rate service isn't worth giving away your privacy to every criminal on the web.

 

[OgnDulk]

Facebook targets the LGBT community if they must furnish real names and I can have 4 accounts with 3 aliases.

 

[p51d007]

The only thing I report are those stupid
"Hi, I earned over 200,000,000 dollars working from home" crap.

 

[ET3D]

When people use the name others know them by, they are more accountable for what they say, making it more difficult to hide behind an anonymous name to harass, bully, spam or scam someone else

But Facebook doesn't enforce using real names, it just enforces using real-sounding names. That doesn't prevent anyone from spamming, scamming, etc. In fact, spammers and scammer likely won't even consider using a handle, but would use a real name, just not their own.

 

[UltraModernGuy]

People still use Facebook?

 

[Phr3d]

I can't remember if I've posted this here before, apologies if I have:

I joined FB over a decade ago as my niece asked me to, and no one had Heard of facebook yet (MySpace was the thing, but was obviously dying).
I am spoofed like always, and created an account based upon a character that I had wriiten about 30 years prior, all absolutely imaginary but easy for me to remember, and since I only intended to talk to One person, perfect for my use.
After filling in the REQUIRED pile of info with said fakery, FB asked me if I wanted to friend Three people (who listed real names) that I had attended high school with (didn't 'know' me, graduated 30 years ago at that point in time -- have I made it Clear how Spoofed and Faked this new account was?).

I ripped that ***** out like it was the sub-seven virus and Never looked back.

 

[rogueh4]

I lost my facebook a few weeks ago (Had made the account in 2007) for not using my real name. I was surprised and upset, lost a lot of pictures that I don't have back ups for and contacts that I had made over the last 8 years. :/