Political Dissidents
Facebook has finally made an eminently sensible exception to its claimed[1] "real name policy" for drag queens, yet it remains happy to apply this policy to Chinese political dissidents who risk their lives — at least potentially — by criticizing their government and its policies.[2]
When will these hyper-puritanical Nazis come to their senses and realize that the only sane policy — and the only way Facebook can be fair and evenhanded in the application of that policy, in all cases — is to let users use whatever name they wish?
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[1] See above re Mark Zuckerberg's dog.
Some churlish souls might object that the dog is — presumably — using its real name ("Beast" — or so we are told!), but I strongly suspect the reality is that some human being who already has a Facebook page in his or her own name is also making posts in the dog's name. Thus maintaining at least two separate accounts under at least two different names.
Remember this when reading what the Facebook mouthpieces say about people using false names or multiple accounts.
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[2] I thought I first learned of this from El Reg, but apparently I misremembered. I could find no pertinent articles using the site's search feature. But this piece from The Guardian will suffice as an introduction for the unfamiliar:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/09/chinese-blogger-mark-zuckerberg-dog
Microsoft knuckled under to the ChiComs some 5 years earlier, shutting down Michael Anti's blog. See, e.g.:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09122008/profile3.html
Granted, "Michael Anti" has suffered great inconvenience rather than death, but there is little reason to doubt that the PRC could and would take him out should he become too annoying.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
