Users Aren’t Happy With Meta Verified As It Forces Them To Match Legal Names With Display Names On Profiles

It was only recently that we were made aware of Meta’s paid verification system. And while many of us failed to give it much importance, we’ve seen people working hard to provide verification on social media apps.

But the fact that the company is forcing users to do it is really a whole different ballgame altogether.

A new report by media outlet TechCrunch is shedding light on how the company is forcing users to give legal names. And it is not shady as the purpose outlined is verification. But going one step ahead and forcing them to use that only as their display name for others to see on their profiles is not being loved by so many out there.

Hence, those making use of names that are the exact opposite of the real ones need to be wary of the act as it won’t be allowed any longer. Hence, even those jetting out money for verification would be banned from the whole verified act.

Some users claim they’re okay with it because they’ve been using that since day one. But others are raising objections for clear reasons. After all, aren’t we well aware of the trolls in this world who work hard trying to figure out where a certain person lives?

Let’s take the example of an influencer who says Meta informed her about disapproving her verification based on the use of her current name. She needed to put the legal out there and she avoided that since day one due to major problems related to privacy.

Putting the name out there can be dangerous. Fans will go online to search for personal details like addresses, house records, and more. So many things are public records when purchasing homes using your real name.

The general opinion altogether is that tech giant Meta holds the right to see people’s legal names for the sake of verification. But no user should ever be forced to list that out in a public profile if they’re not willing to do it.

For now, Meta is feeling the heat from thousands of the app’s users. They feel the matter may be relaxed later on but for now, these are the regulations in place that need to be followed.

A spokesperson for the company mentioned how the ordeal is getting launched keeping in mind great security protocol as they’re well aware of the risks that come with it. Moreover, they hope to see an ease in the requirements soon and find a more secure solution that does not require people to have profile names that match the ones they own legally.

But for that, they’re not giving out any particular timeline so we’re stuck with this for now.

This was launched for both of Meta’s leading apps, Facebook and Instagram. There seems to be a lot of similarity between this and Twitter, which rolled out a paid form of verification a while back.

Read next: Meta’s Top Executives Including CEO Mark Zuckerberg Are Spending A Lot Of Time Working On AI
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World