Facebook Loses German Top Court Case Over Fake-Name Accounts

Facebook on Meta Platforms was wrong to deny the right of two Germans to use the name invented in their Facebook account, the Supreme Court of the State ruled.

A German federal court stated that the proceedings were in compliance at the time of the first dispute, prior to the revision of the European Union’s Data Privacy Act, which came into force in May 2018. Facebook argued that the new EU regulations allow the platform to create customers. Please use your real name.

A Meta spokeswoman said the decision was based on an outdated legal framework.

“Facebook is a platform that connects people with their real names,” she said. “The real name adds credibility to the platform.”

The social media network said in January and March 2018 that it did not allow two users to create accounts with fake names under the terms. They both filed proceedings, but lost in a lower court that stated that EU regulations in May 2018 changed the situation.

A Supreme Court judge overturned these decisions by saying that the law in force at the time allowed fake account names as long as Facebook knew the true identity of the user.