Facebook takes the flexible route on the real-names issue

Mercury News:

A year after a group of drag queens and transgender people saw their accounts challenged and in some cases suspended, I am glad we are still talking about this issue.

We are torn between two frequently incompatible goals — wanting the Internet to be a bastion for free speech but also a place where people, particularly vulnerable groups, aren’t subject to harassment and bullying that sometimes spills into real-world threats.

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Gautam Hans, policy counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said it’s “important to disentangle two things, anonymous speech and online harassment.”

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