William Shatner's Google+ Account Gets Temporarily Shut Down

 By 
Todd Wasserman
 on 
William Shatner's Google+ Account Gets Temporarily Shut Down
Mashable Image
Credit:
Mashable Image
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The actor's Google+ account was taken down early Monday, although it now appears to be back up.

Shatner complained about the incident on Twitter, stating, "My Google+ account was flagged for violating standards. Saying hello to everyone apparently is against the rules maybe I should say goodbye?"

Shatner rejoined Google+ Monday with the following announcement: "I am back plusers! I still do not know what happened but I will refrain from saying hello again for a while just in case. My best, Bill."

The issue could be related to verification. Google is trying to make Google+ as free of pseudonyms and fake accounts as possible. Accordingly, Google has gone after at least one Second Life user, who tried to build a Google+ profile around the virtual account.

Despite Google's vigilance, there are some clearly fake Google+ accounts out there, including one supposedly run by the late Hunter S.Thompson. Some celebs, like Ashton Kutcher and Lady Gaga, have what appear to be real accounts.

At the moment, there seems to be no verification system for Google+. So telling a real celeb account from a fake one can be a challenge. Such are the growing pains for a new social network.

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