Facebook left red-faced after dumping 'fake' Kate Middleton account
by Steven Mostyn - Jan 25 2011, 13:03
This would be the real Kate Middleton. Image: Niquinho/Flickr.
Facebook is once again securing negative news inches after it unceremoniously dumped the account of a long-serving user in the UK… because she happened to share the same name as Prince William’s headline-making fiancee.
More pointedly, Kate Middleton of Wellingborough in Northants was kicked off Facebook after officials at the world’s leading social network said she was attempting to pass herself off as the royal bride-to-be.
According to Middleton, she discovered her Facebook access had been blocked when a routine login attempt (to her profile of two years) prompted an on-screen notification explaining that the account was fake and had been disabled.
“They said I couldn’t use my name because I was impersonating someone famous, which I’m not, as I am Kate Middleton,” she said in a BBC report.
Facebook said it is looking into the problem and has conceded that it does make the odd mistake while trying to maintain a safe and trusted global network for its 600 million users.
In a somewhat amusing twist, Middleton’s boyfriend shares the same name as British TV personality Jonathon Ross. His Facebook account is still active.
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