14 DAY TRIAL // Jon Swift, a Facebook blogger "who likes to write about politics and culture", was banned on the social networking website because he uses a nickname instead of the real name. It seems that it all started from Facebook's Terms of Use which require the registered members to enter their real first and last name. But the question is how the Facebook employees managed to find out if Jon Swift is the real name or not since the blogger sustains he was never contacted by the website's representatives. All he received was an account banned-like message without any notification or warning.
"According to Facebook, I am a fake, a charlatan, a nonperson and all of my more than 200 Facebook friends are the victims of a cruel hoax. My crime? Violating Facebook's Terms of Service by not using my "real name." What's next?", Jon Swift wrote on his blog which is hosted by Google's Blogger.
After sending a message to the Facebook employees, Jon received an answer from a representative who informed him that his account infringed the Terms of Use. "Fake accounts are a violation of our Terms of Use. Facebook requires users to provide their real first and last names. Impersonating anyone or anything is prohibited. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reactivate this account for any reason. This decision is final", the email read, according to the blogger.
This is the moment when the war began. The Facebook users created a special Facebook group called "Let Jon Swift Back into Facebook", urging the engineers to remove the ban and allow the blogger to access the service. Moreover, numerous other bloggers wrote articles to support their friend and demand the removal of the restriction. Finally, the Facebook account was restored as the social network's engineers considered that Jon Swift is not actually infringing the Terms of Use.
"Since others on the site seem to know you by this name, and since you don't appear to be using the name to impersonate or to hide your identity, we have determined that you are not violating these Terms. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns", a new email sent to Jon Swift stated.