Clubhouse Breaks Its Own Rule, Saving Lives in Afghanistan and Revealing a Universal Safety Issue

Social audio chat app Clubhouse was built with a simple rule: users are required to “agree to provide and maintain true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself,” in order to register for its services and create an account. In other words, Clubhouse doesn’t ask for a username, it demands your full legal name. What was initially designed to build transparent communities as a way to form more meaningful connections and build real-life networks, the app’s terms create a serious safety risk for those who use it. In light of the Taliban gaining control in Afghanistan, Clubhouse was faced with what was a life or death decision for its users, and luckily it had a change of heart, revising its die-hard rule and allowing users to use pseudonyms.However, the revision wasn’t as simple as an app-wide change in terms. Instead, it came with the caveat that Clubhouse users are only permitted to use a pseudonym for human rights or safety purposes. And well, waiting until users face a human rights or safety issue to allow them to use a nickname may help mitigate potentially life-threatening situations–it surely doesn’t prevent it. While Clubhouse seeks to be a social network for real-life networking, having this rigid…
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