Mercury News: You can be the authentic you on Facebook (legal name not required)

CDT’s Director of Free Expression, Emma Llanso, spoke with Mercury News reporter Michelle Quinn in reference to the strengths and weaknesses of Facebook’s content flagging system (and how it plays into their “real name” policy).

An incident where Facebook’s account identification policy led hundreds of members of the LGBT community to potentially face having to use their real names or lose their Facebook accounts. The social media platform, like many other sites, relies on users to flag problematic accounts.

“It’s a system that can be abused if there aren’t safeguards in place,” said Emma Llansó, Director of our Free Expression Project. The article continues, “Facebook says it will begin to look at all elements of its policy, including providing more ‘deliberate’ customer service to accounts that get flagged.”

Read the full article here.