The resulting discussions have raised many issues regarding naming, cultural sensitivity, public and private identity, privacy, and the role of social media in modern discourse.
At the time of launch, the site's user content and conduct policy stated, "To help fight spam and prevent fake profiles, use the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you.
[13] Google initially responded on 25 July when vice president Bradley Horowitz promised improvements to the suspension and enforcement process.
[16] On 19 October 2011, at the Web 2.0 Summit, Google executive Vic Gundotra revealed that Google+ would begin supporting pseudonyms and other types of identity within a few months.
If an account is suspended, users will not be able to access Google services that require active profiles, such as Buzz, Reader, and Picasa.
[25] A number of high-profile commentators have publicly criticized Google's policies, including technologists Violet Blue,[26] Jamie Zawinski,[27] Kevin Marks,[28] and Robert Scoble[29] and organisations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
[13] Criticisms have been wide-ranging, for example: Facebook has always had a "real name" policy[36] but enforcement has traditionally been sporadic and usually dependent on reports by users.
[40] In November 2011 the United States Department of Justice said that it wants to retain the ability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prosecute people who provide false information online with the intent to harm others.
This statement, coming as it did shortly after the Google+ and Facebook actions, raised fears that web users could face criminal prosecution for using pseudonyms.