Facebook was ordered to end its real name policy and permit the use of pseudonyms on its platform by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ULD) for Schleswig-Holstein last year. The social network violated the German Telemedia Act, which allows users to use nicknames online, according to the ULD.
The orders were issued against Facebook in the U.S., and also Facebook Ireland, which is responsible for all Facebook’s activities outside of the U.S. and Canada. Facebook, however, decided to fight the orders because it thought them without merit.
The Administrative Court of the State of Schleswig-Holstein ruled in favor of Facebook on Thursday. The ULD wrongly based its orders on German law which is not applicable in this case, the court spokesman Harald Alberts said in a news release on Friday.
Another win for abolishing anonymity online. If only we could do this to cesspools like Reddit.
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