Facebook has been ordered to stop enforcing its real name policy following a decree from a German privacy regulator. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ULD) declared that Facebook should start immediately allowing pseudonyms, going on to say that the social network’s actions were "unacceptable." In a statement, Facebook says that the order is "without merit" and that it will fight the decree "vigorously."

The ULD is championing the order on behalf of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, and if it's successful, other data privacy agencies across Germany could also adopt the policy. Facebook has two weeks to contest the order in court — judging from its comments on how the decree is "a waste of German taxpayers' money," it looks fully set to do so.