A German privacy watchdog has failed in its bid to stop Facebook forcing users to register with their real names.

Schleswig-Holstein state's data protection office had argued that the ban on fake names breaches German privacy laws and European rules designed to protect free speech online.

But a state appeals court has confirmed a lower tribunal's ruling that German privacy laws do not apply to Facebook because the social networking site has its European headquarters in Ireland, where privacy rules are less stringent.

Data Protection Commissioner Thilo Weichert said in a statement today that he would accept the ruling, but urged politicians to consider changing legislation to harmonise privacy laws across the European Union.

Facebook officials could not immediately be reached for comment

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.