National | Technology

Native Americans join protest over 'identity' policy on Facebook

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Participants in the #MyNameIs rally at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Photo by Sergio Quintana / Twitter

Native Americans joined a rally at the headquarters of Facebook in California on Monday in protest of the social media's "authentic identity" policy.

Native activists are frequently locked out of their accounts because Facebook allows anyone to "report" them for allegedly using a fake or improper name. One White supremacist even took credit for keeping writer Dana Lone Elk off the site and she was forced to submit several forms of identification to get back on.

Even Native users who haven't been targeted for their activism have run into problems. Some are forced to modify their surnames rather than submit documentation to Facebook because the site does not consider their Indian names to be authentic.

Drag queens, domestic violence survivors and other users are also affected by the policy. They want the social media giant to remove the reporting option and to improve the way it handles identity issues.

"It is malicious and targeted bullying against our community and all of those users," Bay Area performer Sister Roma, one of the leading voices in the #MyNameIs effort, said at the protest, The San Jose Mercury News reported.

Get the Story:
Drag queens, Native Americans and others protest Facebook's 'real name' policy (The San Jose Mercury News 6/2)
#MyNameIs: Drag queens, Native Americans protest Facebook’s ‘authentic name’ policy (RT.Com 6/2)
Protesters rally outside Facebook HQ over 'real name' policy (Mashable 6/2)
Drag queens lead "real names" protest at Facebook (CNN Money 6/2)