Facebook "Real-name Culture" Runs up Against Native Culture

Robin Kills The Enemy is getting back in touch with her friends since her Facebook account was reinstated on Friday. For awhile she was banned from the social networking Web site – a communications lifeline for young adults – because it wrongly flagged her for registering under a false name. 

When news of Kills The Enemy’s ban got out, other people with Native American surnames emerged to share similar stories. Many just gave up on the idea of using Facebook because it would not accept their names. A Facebook group called “Facebook don’t discriminate Native surnames!!!” has more than 1,000 members.

Facebook spokesman Simon Axten, said this in an e-mail to The Argus Leader “Facebook is based on a real name culture . … ” Sometimes mistakes are made he said, and, as in the case of Kills The Enemy, people need to contact Facebook to be reinstated. Read the story here.