Facebook sent out a clear message to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday, prohibiting all users from creating phony profiles on the social networking site.
In a letter addressed to the DEA, Facebook said agents will have to use their real names if they want to use the site—even if the agency is using it to catch criminals.
"We regard the DEA's conduct to be a knowing and serious breach of Facebook's terms and policies," security office Joe Sullivan writes in the letter.
The letter was written after an officer from the DEA created a fake Facebook profile using a female suspect's name in 2011. The Justice Department previously overlooked the court filing that gave the agent the right to use Sondra "Prince" Arquiett identity, which resulting in the DEA posting provocative photos found on the female suspect's phone after she was arrested on suspicion that she was part of a drug ring,
The fake identity was revealed after a friend asked how the woman was still posting on her account while she was waiting for trial. Arquiett pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to probation.
Arquiett sued the DEA agent Timothy Sinnigen for violating privacy and putting her life in harm's way, and is asking for $250,000 in damages. However, the agency said that the suspect "implicitly consented by granting access to the information stored in her cell phone and by consenting to the use of that information to aid in an ongoing criminal investigations."
The DEA is reportedly reviewing the matter and Facebook has banned the fake account.
After the controversy came to light, Facebook is asking "that the DEA immediately confirm that it has ceased all activities on Facebook that involve the impersonation of others or that otherwise violate our terms and policies."
Facebook has been enforcing its "real name" policy, but received criticism among the drag queen community who used their stage names to protect and promote their different identities. Facebook updated the policy to define "real names" as those that people use in public and can include names other than user's legal one.
