Facebook making changes to its real names policy in wake of criticism

Facebook has announced that it is making a couple of amendments to its 'real names' policy that requires users to use their real name on the social networking website. The announcement came in the wake of an open letter from groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and ACLU of California, claiming the policy is flawed and needs to be fixed.

Firstly, those asked to confirm their name will now be given a chance to explain the context and other details related to their choice of name - till now, the company asked only for confirmation, with no room for any sort of explanation.

"We want to reduce the number of people who are asked to verify their name on Facebook, when they are already using the name people know them by," said Alex Schultz, Facebook's vice president of growth, in a letter the company. "We want to make it easier for people to confirm their name if necessary."

The second change Facebook is making is aimed at making the fake name reporting process less abusable - those reporting will now be required to provide more details on why they are doing so. Both the aforementioned changes are expected to come into effect starting December this year.

Back in July this year, a German privacy watchdog said that Facebook cannot force its 'real names' policy on users of the social networking website, and also cannot ask them to provide an official ID.

Via