Facebook real-name policy controversy

The Facebook real-name policy controversy is a controversy over social networking site Facebook's real-name system, which requires that a person use their legal name when they register an account and configure their user profile.^[1] The controversy stems from claims by some users that they are being penalized by Facebook for using their real names, and have suffered adverse consequences as a result. For example, Facebook's naming policies prohibit names that Facebook judges to have too many words, too many capital letters, or first names that consist of initials. Facebook's monitoring software detects and suspends such accounts. These policies prevent some users from having a Facebook account and profile with their real name.

As part of their complaint, those who cannot use their real names point out that millions of Facebook accounts use fake yet plausible-sounding names, and even fake and obviously implausible names, because Facebook's software fails to recognize them.