Woman named Isis banned from FB

She was asked to send an identity proof by the social networking site as part of its stringent policy to erase all traces of ISIS outfit.

July 02, 2016 04:04 pm | Updated 04:34 pm IST - LONDON:

FILE - In this July 16, 2009 file photo, a Facebook user logs into their account in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Facebook on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 created a dual-class stock structure designed to give founder Mark Zuckerberg and other existing shareholders control over the company.  (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick, File)

FILE - In this July 16, 2009 file photo, a Facebook user logs into their account in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Facebook on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 created a dual-class stock structure designed to give founder Mark Zuckerberg and other existing shareholders control over the company. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick, File)

A 27-year-old U.K. woman named Isis was denied access to her Facebook account and asked to send an identity proof by the social networking site as part of its stringent policy to erase all traces of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror outfit.

Isis Thomas, a resident of Bristol in Britain, was asked to change her name after logging on to the site on June 27.

Change your name

“I just tried to log in and when I did, the password went through and this box came up asking me something about changing my name. I was on Facebook as Isis Worcester, because when I first signed up years ago I didn’t use my real name, which is Isis Thomas, because of where I worked at the time,” Ms. Isis said.

“I thought it was about the surname, so I just changed it to Isis Thomas. But that didn’t work and I realised they had a problem with me being called Isis,” she said.

Named after the Pharaonic goddess

Ms. Isis’s mother had named her after the ancient Egyptian goddess worshipped as the ideal mother, wife and the patron of nature and magic.

“They sent a message saying Isis wasn’t allowed, it didn’t comply with the policy. They asked me to send in proof of identity, which I did. That was on Monday and I haven’t been let on the site since,” Ms. Isis was quoted as saying by The Sun .

FB crackdown on ISIS

Facebook has recently launched a crackdown on ISIS extremists who had used the network for propaganda purposes.

“Things have definitely changed for me and my name...It frustrates me that people still use ‘Isis’, especially when I see newspaper reports and they’ve written it ‘Isis’ instead of at least using capitals, like ISIS, because it’s an acronym,” the Bristol University worker said.

I love my name, she says

“I have no plans to change my name, though, I love it. I just want Facebook to realise it’s my real name,” she said.

“It’s as though she has never existed. I have found Facebook impossible to contact and I’m furious,” said Sian, mother of Isis.

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