German Privacy Group Loses Appeal With Facebook Over Real Names
Facebook has been battling users who either don't exist in real life or are using a pseudonym, but the company has met resistance in Germany. However, a judge ruled Wednesday in an appeal case that German privacy laws (which would allow users to have whatever name they want on the social network) do not apply to Facebook, as the company's European base is in Ireland, where regulations are more lax.
Facebook has been battling users who either don’t exist in real life or are using a pseudonym, but the company has met resistance in Germany. However, a judge ruled Wednesday in an appeal case that German privacy laws (which would allow users to have whatever name they want on the social network) do not apply to Facebook, as the company’s European base is in Ireland, where regulations are more lax.
Schleswig-Holstein argued that Facebook’s crusade against fake names runs afoul of German and European laws that protect free speech online.
A state appeals court confirmed a ruling that German privacy laws don’t apply to Facebook because of its base in Ireland, which has less stringent rules about online privacy than Germany.
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