In the wake of the horrifying terror attacks in Paris last week, Facebook de-activated the account of a San Francisco-based engineer whose real name is Isis Anchalee. The removal, which was ultimately reversed, highlights the ongoing battle Facebook has with respect to users with real names that the social networking giant nonetheless deems to be fake. Per Facebook’s official policy, profile names must represent an “authentic identity; as your friends call you in real life” and must be able to be verified with various identification forms.
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Word of Anchalee’s temporary removal from Facebook was first brought to the limelight via Twitter earlier this week. Tweeting at Facebook directly, Anchalee explained that her real name is, in fact, Isis.
@facebook why would you disable my personal account? MY REAL NAME IS ISIS ANCHALEE /facepalm
— Isis Anchalee (@isisAnchalee) November 16, 2015
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@facebook ………. why? pic.twitter.com/F6BPvdRnep
— Isis Anchalee (@isisAnchalee) November 16, 2015
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@dzandman Facebook thinks I’m a terrorist and froze my account
— Isis Anchalee (@isisAnchalee) November 17, 2015
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Thankfully, Facebook researcher Omid Farivar managed to keep tabs on the situation and assured Isis that Facebook was working on correcting the problem.
“Isis, sorry about this,” Farivar said via a tweet. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve reported it to the right people and we’re working on fixing it.”
Shortly thereafter, Farivar sent out another tweet apologizing for the mess-up and relaying that the account was back up and running again.
