Facebook’s real name policy has cause quite a stir recently, especially among the drag queen community. Several performers found themselves on the receiving end of a merciless deletion because they used their stage names, rather than their legal names for their profiles. When those accounts were reported as fake (apparently by a single individual with a vendetta against drag queens) they got swept up into Facebook’s system and removed along with the bullies, impersonators and trolls. Now the company’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, has issued an apology, though one that makes it clear the policy will not be changing.
Cox makes it clear that forcing Sister Roma or Lil Miss Hot Mess to change the names associated with their accounts would be a mistake, however. As he explains:
Our policy has never been to require everyone on Facebook to use their legal name. The spirit of our policy is that everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life. For Sister Roma, that’s Sister Roma. For Lil Miss Hot Mess, that’s Lil Miss Hot Mess.
That being said, he goes on to say the policy is “the right one” for Facebook, and gives no inclination that it’s going to change anytime soon. Instead he says that the company’s “reporting and enforcement mechanisms” are largely to blame for the problems. So, while the real name policy will stay in place, it looks as if Facebook is taking the issues it has caused recently at least somewhat seriously and is looking for solutions — even if it’s not sure what those solutions are yet. Suffice to say, Edwina Gadgetina was hoping for something more.
[Image Credits: Shutterstock (Facebook), Mathu Andersen/Logo (RuPaul)]
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Facebook apologizes for spurning drag queens, might do something about it
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