Social media platforms like Facebook have a tremendous power today and have become a true danger to the stability of democratic states. No wonder so that louder is always considered about the breaking of these companies.

• Why was Facebook sued?
• How did the Federal Court of Justice said?
• Does the verdict apply to all?
• What does Facebook say to the verdict?

Meta, so the new name of Facebook's mother-making company, meanwhile, continues on the metaverse. Whether in the future clear names must be used? Probably not in Germany. The Federal Court of Justice has made a judgment on the topic.

Also interesting: In Australia, Facebook and Co. have to reveal the identity of online trolls

Why was Facebook sued?

A man and a woman from Germany had succeeded after both Facebook in 2018 were locked by Facebook because they did not use their real names on the platform. ** This violates the terms of use.

The Higher Regional Court ** München initially given Facebook right, but the two plaintiffs continued took ahead of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe.

How did the Federal Court of Justice said?

There they could now achieve a victory against Facebook . The court consideres sufficient when users create an account with clear names.

At item on the platform then pseudonyms may be used. It is important, however: the forced to register with the real name is still true.

Does the verdict apply to all?

The chairman Ulrich Herrmann explained the verdict with the difference of internal and external ratio. For the latter, pseudonyms are allowed, for example, when commenting, group contributions or post items.

Since since May 2018 throughout the EU, the new Data Protection Basic Regulation applies, the verdict initially concerns only accounts, which were created on Facebook before this date.

_Aber What does Facebook say to the verdict? Lest next.

What does Facebook say to the verdict?

A spokeswoman of Meta said to the judgment of the Federal Court of Justice: "We take note of today's decision that is explicitly based on an outdated legal situation." According to its own statement, Facebook set on a clear name forced to strengthen the platform's authenticity and increase the inhibition threshold for bullying and hass comments, ** As users interact with their true name.