Native Americans Offended By Facebook's 'Real Name' Policy

(RTTNews) - Facebook's 'Real Name' policy may not be real after all, if one goes by the harrowing experience of many Native Americans who had their accounts deleted as their names were thought to be fake.

Facebook requires users to identify themselves by their actual names as "that way, you always know who you're connecting with. This helps keep our community safe."

But many Native Americans whose traditional names were perceived to be fake by Facebook were forced to repeatedly prove them to be true.

For example, Shane Creepingbear, of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, was removed from the social media site years ago and had to follow the stringent Facebook policy in proving his real name. But the bad experience did not end with that. Last year, Creepingbear was again eliminated from Facebook.

"As unintentional as this whole name policy may be, it really fits into this larger narrative of the erasure of Native Americans from North and Central America," he said. "It mirrors what society as a whole deems as a 'normal name.' I don't want that part of the story to get lost."

Fortunately for Creepingbear, he knew some Facebook employees who were promptly able to get his account reactivated.

Facebook also recently suspended Native American Dana Lone Hill and refused to reactivate her account even after she provided her ID. It was only after the issue gained publicity that her account was restored.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says that no one should have to rely on media attention to get Facebook to deal with its broken name policy.

Facebook looks into reports of users who suspect the veracity of some names, and in the process, gullibly indulges in some sort of discrimination, especially against minorities.

The EFF advocates that Facebook not verify names for privacy's sake. At least Facebook warn users before banning accounts, EFF says, adding that social network's grievances process is complicated.

Facebook's real name policy exists side by side with increasing use of fake accounts. The company feels "authentic identity is important to the Facebook experience."

In October, Facebook changed its policy, saying that rather than real names, "everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life."