Meta · Meta Terms of Service · View original document ↗

User Commitments and Prohibited Conduct

Medium severity Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Recent governance activity Meta recorded 20 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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Document Record

What it is

Facebook requires you to use your real name and accurate personal information, and only create one personal account for yourself — which means pseudonymous or anonymous use of the platform is prohibited.

This analysis describes what Meta's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

These requirements establish the operational basis for account verification and user accountability within the platform. The provision links identity authenticity to community safety and enforcement of platform policies.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

High Apr 21, 2026

The updated terms establish a jurisdictional change for consumers. Previously, all disputes had to be resolved in California courts; now, if you are a consumer or if your country requires it, disputes must be resolved in courts within your home country under your home country's laws. For Meta's own claims against you, the agreement still requires disputes to proceed exclusively in California courts. The revised terms also now require Meta to notify you at least 30 days in advance before making changes to these Terms, and you will have the opportunity to review them before they take effect, unless changes are required by law.

View change record →

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
Apr 9, 2026
First Seen
Apr 10, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 1153 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

By requiring your real name and accurate personal information, Meta ensures that all of your platform activity — posts, likes, searches, group memberships — is linked to your verified identity, which it uses to build detailed advertising profiles and which could be disclosed in legal proceedings or data breaches.

How other platforms handle this

Grubhub Medium

For campus users only, we may provide identifiers to select food service providers that operate restaurants and other food ordering and delivery services on your campus so that they can communicate directly with you and send you personalized communications and marketing. Please see Section 2.1 below...

YouTube Kids Medium

We will share individual user information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Google if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to: meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable govern...

MetaMask Medium

We may share your personal information with our affiliates, meaning entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common control with Consensys. We also share information with service providers who assist in operating our services, subject to confidentiality obligations.

See all platforms with this clause type →

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
In return for our commitment to provide the Meta Products to you, we require you to make the following commitments to us. Who can use Facebook. When people stand behind their opinions and actions, our community is safer and more accountable. For this reason, you must: use the same name that you use in everyday life; provide accurate information about yourself; create only one account (your own) and use your timeline for personal purposes. You must not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.

— Excerpt from Meta's Meta Terms of Service

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: The real-name policy engages GDPR Art. 5(1)(c) (data minimisation — requiring real names may exceed what is necessary for platform provision) and Art. 25 (data protection by design and default). The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH, Case VI ZR 7/23) and the Hamburg DPA have previously challenged Facebook's real-name policy as potentially violating EU data protection law. GDPR Art. 9 is implicated where real-name posting reveals sensitive categories of data (e.g., health status, sexual orientation, political opinions) through association. CCPA §1798.100 provides California residents rights over the personal information — including real name and linked activity data — collected under this policy. (2)

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority over deceptive identity and data collection practices under FTC Act Section 5, relevant where real-name data collection exceeds what users are told it will be used for.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
COPPA
United States Federal
Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
DMA
European Union
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
UK GDPR
United Kingdom
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US
VPPA
United States Federal

Provision details

Document information
Document
Meta Terms of Service
Entity
Meta
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 6, 2026
Last verified
April 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002387
Document ID
CA-D-00020
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
8a855e4c147f2c90abe6867d9f920a94ad0e0ebee43fb73d9f0d62acffd1e90c
Analysis generated
March 6, 2026 20:29 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Meta
Document: Meta Terms of Service
Record ID: CA-P-002387
Captured: 2026-03-06 20:29:13 UTC
SHA-256: 8a855e4c147f2c90…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/meta/meta-terms-of-service/user-commitments-and-prohibited-conduct/
Accessed: June 15, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Meta's User Commitments and Prohibited Conduct clause do?

These requirements establish the operational basis for account verification and user accountability within the platform. The provision links identity authenticity to community safety and enforcement of platform policies.

How does this clause affect you?

By requiring your real name and accurate personal information, Meta ensures that all of your platform activity — posts, likes, searches, group memberships — is linked to your verified identity, which it uses to build detailed advertising profiles and which could be disclosed in legal proceedings or data breaches.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Meta?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta.