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One is a decision by a private company (which you can get around by using a different service) and one is a mandate from the government.

This is exactly what he fails to see.

Given both Googles and Facebooks origin funding, I think a debate could be had about this point.

Explain what you mean. Where did their funding come from?

There is no US government law or rule to enforce real names (see Twitter, etc).

Even if they're funded by the government, the government doesn't stop you from posting anywhere else.

If you don't like Facebook forcing you to use your real name, Hacker News will let you use a name like freehunter (most certainly not my real name).