Phuc Dat Bich just wants to use his Facebook like everyone else

To separate itself from MySpace as a more “grown-up” social media site, Facebook early on instituted a policy wherein you must use your real name for your profile. While that policy is largely a great idea — tHeSe LeTTerS in yoUR ProFiLe NaMe aRe ThE WorST — there are a lot of different kinds of names out there that Facebook is just not equipped to handle. I once worked with a girl named Princess, for example. For another example, we have Vietnamese-Australian Phuc Dat Bich.

Phuc Dat Bich is a 23-year-old Vietnamese-Australian who has had his Facebook account shut down several times, even after providing legitimate proof of his name. According to The Huffington Post, Bich lamented how frustrating the experience has been, and posited there is most likely a racial component involved in a post that has been liked over 128,000 times and shared almost 70,000 times since he originally wrote it in January of this year.

Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 3.20.04 PM
Via Facebook

I find it highly irritating the fact that nobody seems to believe me when I say that my full legal name is how you see it. I’ve been accused of using a false and misleading name of which I find very offensive. Is it because I’m Asian? Is it?

Having my fb shut down multiple times and forced to change my name to my “real” name, so just to put it out there. My name.

Yours sincerely,
Phuc Dat Bich

Facebook has gone so far as to ask his friends for confirmation that the name is real, which is truly above and beyond what’s necessary. His friend Brett told The Herald Sun that Bich can use his passport in airports, so obviously it’s legitimate.

Facebook has updated its policy last month to allow users to give a reason for using names that the site flags.

Caitlin Cohen

Caitlin Cohen graduated from Boston University with a degree in History. She has written for DeadState for three and a half years. She technically speaks French. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and has big plans to one day get a dog.

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