Update: (Mon. 11:54am) – Mab’s back! Thank you, thank you, thank you! To see the full story on her return, and more heaping of praises on those who took up the call, see: http://wp.me/p4jBPm-4i
Update: (Fri. 9:28am) – We still need your help! Please retweet this: @facebook Why ask for ID if you just refuse it? WTF? #facebooklied Turn @mabjustmab back on, she is real! #mynameis http://wp.me/p4jBPm-3N
Mab just received her fourth rejection of her appeal to turn her account back on. She has provided 4 different types of ids that prove she is who she says she is, and this is the name she uses everyday in real life. Still, her PERSONAL facebook account is blocked, and a form letter is sent saying: We are unable to verify your identity with the id provided. Please provide identification from the following list… Which she has done. 4 times over.
At this point it is clear – Facebook won’t stand behind their promise from October, they are all about the money and not about their users or their word. They set up a pathway to prove your identity, and then refuse to follow it. They blew smoke in the media and continued to ban drag queens, performers, Native Americans, and anyone who does not fit their mold. They don’t care what name you use in real life, or why you use it – all they care about is sticking to their policy that everyone must have a “real name”, but lets call it what it is – everyone must have a “normal” looking name. They are on the attack again, booting swaths of people who do not conform. We need to fight back. We are trying to be heard, but we need to keep shouting. This is harassment, plain and simple.
Update: (Thurs. 12:26pm) – Some folks have expressed concerns about the first petition we were told about, and thus directed people to sign. We understand those concerns, and have just been linked to another petition that may work better for folks: https://www.change.org/p/facebook-allow-performers-to-use-their-stage-names-on-their-facebook-accounts
Update (Wed 7:18 pm) – There is a petition going to repeal this absurd policy. Not just for Mab, but for everyone affected. Please add your signature at https://www.change.org/p/facebook-stop-forcing-users-to-display-their-real-name
Update (Wed 3:15pm) – A bit more digging makes it seem like we might have the wrong twitter handle for Mark Zuckerman. If anyone knows a better one, please let us know!
Disclaimer: The following is my understanding of events. I may be wrong. It happens, though rarely. – Robert/Gandersnitch
It seems that the fb account of my dear friend and creative collaborator Mab (aka Wedji) was marked as abusive and deleted while she was away performing in New Orleans this past weekend.
A few weeks ago (if even that long) she had run afoul of the “real name police” and was forced to change her name from Mab Just Mab to Mab J’Mab, pending documentation – which she duly provided.
Anybody that knows Mab, knows her only as Mab. Hell, I only know her birth name because of a credit card receipt. She does not use her birth name in real life. That just exists on a piece of paper. She uses the name Mab. Her reasons are her own.
Not only was her account closed, all of her posts, pictures, videos, and private messages were wiped and replaced with this message:This message is no longer available because it was identified as abusive or marked as spam.
Mab is also locked out of the Wedji fb page and the Goblin Talk fb page.
Years of private communications between Mab and myself (and others) regarding performing, planning, etc – are now gone. Comments and posts she made on the goblin talk fb page – gone. Pictures she posted from festivals of us performing – gone.
All over a stupid policy that facebook said in October, after an outpouring of outrage, that they were backing down from. Well, no surprise – FACEBOOK LIED!
I get wanting user accountability, but every other social media platform allows anonymity without compromising user accountability. All facebook’s ill thought out policy does is allow thugs, bullies, and hate mongers to run free and harass people they disagree with without repercussions.
This “real name policy” doesn’t protect anyone. It endangers people who should be able to be secure in their chosen real world identity. It promotes racism and intolerance towards people with traditional or strange sounding names. It puts some customer service person behind a desk somewhere in charge of deciding if another person, who they have never met, is real enough. It puts the burden of proof on the accused, something that is completely backwards to the basic structure of our values in this country. In the end, it really just enables the asshole behavior that facebook pretends they are trying to stop.
Maybe someone disliked something Mab said. Or maybe they just disliked the fact that she performs burlesque. Someone complained. And because of that complaint, Mab’s online identity is wiped. Years of social media contributions are wiped. She is turned into a victim, while her aggressor remains hidden and running free.
This is wrong. This is garbage. This is abuse.
#mynameis Mab, Just Mab.
That is good enough for the rest of the world, and that should be good enough for facebook.
So, the question has been asked: What can you do to help? Mab/Wedji has requested that her case be reopened with facebook. Maybe they will, maybe they wont. In the meantime, the best way to help is spread the word. In the past, people have successfully overturned facebook’s zealous ass-hattery via twitter. It is worth giving it a try again. If you have twitter, please post this tweet:
@facebook Why ask for ID if you just refuse it? WTF? #facebooklied Turn @mabjustmab back on, she is real! #mynameis http://wp.me/p4jBPm-3N
Thank you. (And if you need to contact Mab directly, please do so via email: Mab@Mabjustmab.com)
RSS - Posts
When an account is suspended the history should not be cleared; it should be in limbo until they reinstate her page. That being said it is still bullshit, and I cannot stand the Facebook “Real Name” policy”. The only thing I can suggest is that she make a page where she can use her stage name where people can contact her.
Dude. it’s a fucking free site. You didn’t pay for any service, they don’t owe you anything. Get over it and move on. If it was that important you shouldn’t have counted on a FREE site to house all your important message and documents.
1. yes. it’s free. and no. It isn’t my only point of contact in this world. it is, however, the largest. And only an idiot would ignore it.
2. I can, in fact, live without facebook. really. it’s just another way to interact with my friends. Where they all are.
3. this isn’t about me losing FB as a promotional tool. this is about me losing FB as a way to interact with people like people, instead of just numbers.
To be honest, I was surprised this has been an issue. I have been a facebook user for almost 10 years, never once changing my name from the original, Mab Just Mab.
10 years of history gone. 10 years of dialogue between friends who are no longer with us, gone. Photos from when I could still walk and dance, gone.
And I actually have all ID they are asking for to reinstate my account:
Insurance (under Mab Just Mab)
membership ids under Mab Just Mab
Checks written to Mab Just Mab
Mail addressed to Mab Just Mab
Today they closed my support ticket. I reopened it and submitted more photos of ID, but I’m not that optimistic.
There have been some questions about why I don’t just create a fan page. But based on the way Facebook has structured the page, it ends up being a one way dialogue. I am a person, not a page. I interact with people as a human, not a business.
Dude,
Facebook may not cost money to use, but it is definitely not “free”. Users agree to give Facebook access to very intimate details. Users provide Facebook massive ad revenue. The implication that Facebook then has no responsibility to their users is overly simplistic, unethical, and a good example of the kind of thinking that is wrecking long-term value for US companies.
There is a procedure that Drag and Burlesque performers are able to go through to deal with stage names being flagged.
Email Li’l Miss Hot Mess. She has a direct line to Facebook. mynameis@lilmisshotmess.com
*** GET YOUR NAME BACK ***
Facebook is currently working on updating their internal procedures and systems, but has given us some temporary tricks to restore accounts. Here are two ways to try to get your name back at the moment:
1. For those who were tagged by whoever that nasty troll is, many should have received an email directly from Facebook (see image). If you got this, please reply to that!!! This should be the fastest way, so don’t do option 2 or you’ll just confuse us all.
2. If you didn’t receive that message, Facebook has provided us with an email address but asked that we not share it publicly just yet. So instead, you can email *ME* the following info — mynameis@lilmisshotmess.com — and I will forward it to them:
• Your current profile name, the account URL (i.e. http://www.facebook.com/SisterRoma), and/or the email associated with your account.
• Date/time (approximate is ok) when your account was suspended.
• Brief details about your experience: who you are and any other details that could help Facebook evaluate why your account may have been inaccurately suspended.
• Give your authentic name (the name you go by in every day life that you have previously used on Facebook) as it should appear on your profile.
>> Please use EMAIL (not Facebook messages or comments)! I’ve set up the above email to keep this streamlined, but please keep in mind that I have to forward each email so only use it to restore your name.
Please understand that this does not guarantee your account will be re-activated — the Facebook team will review the information on a one-on-one basis. They’ve said it should take 2 days (but note that I can’t fwd them all instantaneously!), so if you don’t hear back or get it restored right away, please give it an extra day or two before messaging me (but if you feel they’re not responding, I do want to know). Hopefully you’ll be back to your old self again in no time!
@diamond minx – email already sent! it’s a waiting game. Thank you for your encouragement!
Please sign and spread the word!
Facebook’s Real Name Policy is bullshit.
https://www.change.org/p/facebook-stop-forcing-users-to-display-their-real-name
thank you! most helpful!
its time to shut down the big brother buddy sites and the assholes that run them.
that’s exactly what happened to me. My account was nixed. Now granted I can’t provide any documented proof of my identity because in reality I don’t exist…. but hey that isn’t the issue. I’ll be posting your blerb for twitter on my twitter account.
I have photos taken at MDFF to help replace those lost.
Ask people to message this guy.
https://www.facebook.com/chris.cox/posts/10101301777354543
This is your “authentic identity.”
Hopefully someone will listen.
https://www.facebook.com/help/112146705538576
I would like to support Mab (and everyone else) with the petition but the wording of the petition starts “I, among hundreds of others, have been forced to change my name” — and that’s simply not true for me so I cannot sign it in good conscience. If the petition language were changed to be more generally in support, I’d be all over it and would be happy to spread it far and wide. Please consider changing it to something like “I support” rather than “I have been forced” If you can’t change the petition after it opens, perhaps start a fresh one with more general language?
I hear you. However, we did not start this petition. It has existed for many months and it was the one we were directed to when this happened to Mab. We have just been made aware of another petition, this one perhaps more suitable for everyone. If you feel that you can give your support to this one instead, please do!
https://www.change.org/p/facebook-allow-performers-to-use-their-stage-names-on-their-facebook-accounts