Changes to Facebook’s "Real Names" Policy Still Don’t Fix the Problem

Source: Eva Galperin and Wafa Ben Hassine
Affiliation: Electronic Frontier Foundation

In this article, the authors discuss changes Facebook made to its "real names policy." The real names policy required Facebook users to use their real names on their Facebook accounts, or risk account termination. The real names policy has been long opposed by marginalized groups who may not want to use their real names on their Facebook accounts for various reasons. The change Facebook made to the real names policy was to allow members or marginalized groups to submit a request to not use their real name on their account. However, the authors of this article argue that this mechanism makes things worse.

Keywords: Anonymity , Computer Science , Tech Ethics