Salman Rushdie vs. Mark Zuckerberg
Award-winning novelist declares war on Facebook for forcing him to use his given first name, Ahmed, for his profile
When Rushdie first joined Facebook, his account was deactivated because they didn’t believe he was who he claimed. To mend the problem, he mailed the social media giant a copy of his passport.
Now he has proven his identity - the problem is the passport reflected his given first name, Ahmed. So, Facebook reactivated his account under "Ahmed Rushdie".
“They have reactivated my FB page as ‘Ahmed Rushdie,’ in spite of the world knowing me as Salman. Morons,” Rushdie tweeted.
After attempting to receive some technical support, Rushdie said he hoped “ridicule by the Twitterverse will achieve what I can’t.”
Rushdie’s passport is the only piece of ID that uses the name, Ahmed. Unfortunately, Facebook sticks by their policy of using authentic identity, or real names.
"Facebook has always been based on a real-name culture," said Elliot Schrage, vice president of public policy at Facebook. "We fundamentally believe this leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for people who use the service."
Rushdie would not settle for this explanation. He called out to Mark Zuckerberg personally.
"Where are you hiding, Mark?” he posted on Twitter. “Come out here and give me back my name!”
Thankfully, the Twitterverse took up his cause. In less than two hours, Rushdie declared victory.
"Facebook has buckled! I'm Salman Rushdie again. I feel so much better. An identity crisis at my age is no fun."
Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life
