On Monday, June 1, several protesters gathered outside Facebook's tech office headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. to rally against the tech company's "real name" policy.

Social media leader Facebook has been allowing users to report discovered accounts with "fake names," which initially included everything except that written on the user's birth certificate. The company then proceeds to suspend these accounts. Ever since the policy started on 2006, Facebook has been blocking accounts of people who were clearly not using their real name, in an effort to decrease the risk of spam accounts.

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However, the "My Name Is" movement started clamoring that this policy is a clear violation of certain rights afforded to people with special circumstances, most of whom attended the protest. Among the protesters who rallied on Monday were members of the LGBT community, victims of domestic violence and Native Americans.

Drag queens, in particular, often use their stage names a lot more than they do their actual given names. Transgender people, on the other hand, often have to change names as they go through stages in accepting and understanding their evolving personalities.

Meanwhile, Native Americans often have separate names that they use for official records like their birth certificates and driver's licenses, and another for their actual tribal names. Moreover, these Native American names often incorporate animal names or even natural forces into their names, making it difficult for the uninitiated to decipher whether the name is authentic or fake. As a result, many authentic accounts have been reported and suspended by Facebook.

Fortunately, weeks after the "My Name Is" campaign aired their protest, Facebook posted a lengthy official apology. In it, chief product officer Chris Cox noted that while the policy has been in effect for more than 10 years, it "has never been to require everyone on Facebook to use their legal name." He also went on to reassure protesters that the tech company will do its best to fix the issues that seem to discriminate against the affected groups of people.

The Guardian also reports that Facebook has already adjusted its policy and effectively loosened the guidelines for people who want to use their "authentic" name in place of their legal name.

TagsReal name Policy, anti-spam, Protest, Facebook news