Facebook renames Salman ‘Ahmed Rushdie’
Salman Rushdie, full name Ahmed Salman Rushdie.
Ahmed Rushdie probably gets a lot fewer friend requests than Salman Rushdie.
But that's the title Facebook wanted the reknowned author to go by – since Salman is technically his middle name, reported the BBC.
The social network, which has strict policies to ensure its users go by "real" names, deactivated Rushdie's account this weekend after questioning his identity, the author said on Twitter.
He had to show a scan of his passport to get the account reactivated – but when he reappeared on Facebook, it was as Ahmed Rushdie.
Facebook gave in after the author wrote a series of angry Tweets to complain.
He protested:
"Dear #Facebook, forcing me to change my FB name from Salman to Ahmed Rushdie is like forcing J. Edgar to become John Hoover.
"Or, if F. Scott Fitzgerald was on #Facebook, would they force him to be Francis Fitzgerald? What about F. Murray Abraham?"
The author says he received an apology from Facebook, and his better-known name has since been restored.
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