Sir Salman Rushdie wins battle against Facebook

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Booker Prize-winning author Sir Salman Rushdie has won his battle with Facebook over the name he uses on his author profile.

The social-networking giant deactivated his page and tried to force him to use his first name, Ahmed, despite that he's been known by his middle name since childhood.

The Midnight's Children author (pictured right) was quick to vent his wrath to more than 116,000 followers on Facebook's rival, Twitter.

"Amazing. 2 days ago FB deactivated my page saying they didn't believe I was me," he said.

"I had to send a photo of my passport page. Then they said yes, I was me, but insisted I use the name Ahmed which appears before Salman on my passport and which I have never used."

Trying to catch the attention of Facebook's founder, he continued: "They have reactivated my FB page as 'Ahmed Rushdie', in spite of the world knowing me as Salman. Morons. @MarkZuckerbergF? Are you listening?"

He also compared Facebook's staff as "mediocre undergrads".

Facebook and Google+ have a policy of making users register with their real name – rules that are thought to be a means of combating cyber bullying – whereas on Twitter anonymous accounts and parody profiles have flourished.