A Vietnamese-Australian man, named Phuc Dat Bich has been repeatedly banned in Facebook for ‘bearing a false name’. The problem is, it’s the man’s real name.
Bich, 23, told Facebook followers he finds it “highly irritating” that “nobody seems to believe me when I say that my full legal name is how you see it”.
The photo of his old passport clearly displays the name – whose correct pronunciation is approximately “Phoo Da Bic” – and has been shared tens of thousands of times.
“I’ve been accused of using a false and misleading name, which I find very offensive,” wrote the Bank of Australia worker.
“Is it because I’m Asian? Is it?”
Phuc Dat Bich – a lover of cars, judging by his page – added his Facebook account had been “shut down multiple times” and he had been “forced to change my name to my ‘real’ name”.
Back here and in other places, this sums up a concensus reaction…
In other news, Facebook is now strengthening report requirements for ‘false names’ so that troll reporting will now come with accountability. According to Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization chronicling the fight of vulnerable users against Facebook’s ‘Real Name’ policy, this was progress, not yet the solution, but a step in the right direction.
Since Facebook only enforces its name policy when one user reports another, it has been used to harass and silence some of Facebook’s most vulnerable users. In particular, the letter and appendix pointed to a recent rash of attacks on Indian feminists on Facebook. They’ve been pushed off the site by targeted reporting campaigns, and they’re not alone.
This is hardly surprising, since as the coalition’s letter points out; “[a]ny user can file as many reports as they wish, as quickly as they wish, allowing targeted reporting sprees.”
That’s why the coalition asked Facebook to “require users filing real name policy abuse reports to support their claims with evidence.” Facebook directly responded to this, and will now require “people to provide additional information about why they are reporting a profile.” This will require people to click through another list of options, which will be focused on behavior. They’ll also have to fill out a text field, making the entire reporting process take longer.
Well…
That means trolling a user by reporting his or her name for being ‘not a real name’ now requires A LOT OF RED TAPE. And the reporter’s real name apparently.
(source: Evening Standard UK)
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