London, Nov. 15: Facebook, the social networking site which insists its users use their real names, has lost face after being vanquished by “Ahmed Salman Rushdie”.

At stake was whether the 64-year-old Booker Prize winning author could call himself “Salman Rushdie”, which, as he reasonably pointed out, is how he is known to millions of readers across the world, or would have to change to “Ahmed Rushdie”, as Facebook wished.

Rushdie has won.

Lesser folk might have succumbed but Facebook had not reckoned with just how much ridicule, scorn, vitriol and sarcasm Rushdie could pack into just 140 characters. It is an object lesson for the ponderous folk of Bollywood, for example.

Like a general commanding his troops, Rushdie appealed to his 114,000 followers to launch a Twitter tirade against Facebook.

Within a couple of hours yesterday, Facebook crumbled, leaving Rushdie to relish a memorable win: “Just received an apology from The #Facebook Team. All is sweetness and light.”

This has been preceded by news of the victory: “Victory! #Facebook has buckled! I’m Salman Rushdie again. I feel SO much better. An identity crisis at my age is no fun. Thank you Twitter!”

News of the battle had been disclosed through eight tweets previously: “Amazing. 2 days ago FB deactivated my page saying they didn’t believe I was me. I had to send a photo of my passport page. THEN...”

When Facebook initially suspected Rushdie wasn’t the real Rushdie, he had to scan and send a photograph of his (British) passport entry that uses his full name: Ahmed Salman Rushdie.

The author was deeply offended when Facebook insisted he change his username to Ahmed Rushdie from Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie could instantly summon up a long list of famous people who have been known by their second names.

“Dear #Facebook, forcing me to change my [Facebook] name from Salman to Ahmed Rushdie is like forcing J. Edgar to become John Hoover,” he tweeted.

'Or, if F. Scott Fitzgerald was on #Facebook, would they force him to be Francis Fitzgerald?”

Having survived Ayatollah Khomeini, there is nothing Rushdie likes better than a scrap. He turned his attention to Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook: “Is the real #Zuckerberg on Twitter? Where are you hiding, Mark? Come out here and give me back my name!”

Rushdie has clearly enjoyed his battle with Facebook but The New York Times believes the row has highlighted some important issues: “Mr. Rushdie’s predicament points to one of the trickiest notions about life in the digital age: Are you who you say you are online? Whose business is it — and why?”

It sets out the contrasting arguments: “As the Internet becomes the place for all kinds of transactions, from buying shoes to overthrowing despots, an increasingly vital debate is emerging over how people represent and reveal themselves on the websites they visit.

“One side envisions a system in which you use a sort of digital passport, bearing your real name and issued by a company like Facebook, to travel across the Internet. Another side believes in the right to don different hats — and sometimes masks — so you can consume and express what you want, without fear of offline repercussions.”

It also points out: “The debate over identity has material consequences. Data that is tied to real people is valuable for businesses and government authorities alike. Forrester Research recently estimated that companies spent $2 billion a year for personal data, as Internet users leave what the company calls “an exponentially growing digital footprint”.

“And then there are the political consequences. Activists across the Arab world and in Britain have learned this year that social media sites can be effective in mobilising uprisings, but using a real name on those sites can lead authorities right to an activist’s door,” the paper adds.

Facebook could not explain why it chose to crack down on the real Rushdie but admits it made a mistake. “We apologise for the inconvenience this caused him.”

This is not the first time Rushdie has had to fight to win back his identity.

He faced a similar situation just months ago when users of the Twitter site questioned whether he was the man behind the @salmanrushdie1 account.

He railed against the person who had taken the handle “@salmanrushdie”. He tweeted: “@salmanrushdie” who are you? why are you pretending to be me? Release this username. you are a phoney. all followers please note.”

Twitter user, Ali Dayan Hasan of the Pakistan chapter of Human Rights Watch, asked Rushdie to give the middle name and nickname of a woman known to the author. Rushdie supplied the correct answers, describing Hasan as a “suspicious fellow”.

After having his identity verified by Twitter, the imposter using the @salmanrushdie account was forced to hand over the name.

Now his page bears Twitter’s blue “Verified Account” checkmark and quotes Popeye: “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.”