Facebook has apologised to drag queens and transgender users who had their accounts deleted because they weren't using their 'real' names.
Speaking on Facebook, Chris Cox, Chief Product Offer gave a full apology to those users after he claimed that the issue had arisen due to a generalised checking process.
"The way this happened took us off guard. An individual on Facebook decided to report several hundred of these accounts as fake. These reports were among the several hundred thousand fake name reports we process every single week,"
"The process we follow has been to ask the flagged accounts to verify they are using real names by submitting some form of ID — gym membership, library card, or piece of mail. We've had this policy for over 10 years, and until recently it's done a good job of creating a safe community without inadvertently harming groups like what happened here."
Cox goes on to confirm that a new system will now be implemented which no longer forces you to use your 'real name' instead letting you pick the 'authentic name' that you use every day.
"We're already underway building better tools for authenticating the Sister Romas of the world while not opening up Facebook to bad actors. And we're taking measures to provide much more deliberate customer service to those accounts that get flagged so that we can manage these in a less abrupt and more thoughtful way."