French nude Facebook protest nipped in the bud
Hundreds of French Facebook users bared all this week in a protest against the social media site’s strict censorship of nude photos. But the “Day of Nude” protest was cut short early when Facebook's photo police took swift action.
The French have always been big on liberté and its modern Facebook users appear to be no different when it comes to nude photographs.
Upset at Facebook’s aversion to bare flesh, certain French networkers on the social media site organized a “Day of Nude on Facebook” on Monday to protest against what they see as unfair censorship.
The online event, which had more than 8,000 participants, was launched by French photographer Alain Bachellier.
He encouraged everyone to publish a nude photograph on the Facebook event page on Monday in order to highlight the “ridiculous censorship that flouts the basic rules of our freedom of expression in the name of puritanism or the moral rules of another age”.
While many appeared bold enough to put a photo of themselves on the event page, others preferred to stick to the artistic theme of the protest and post an image of a famous nude painting, France’s Huffington Post reported.
However the online show of dissent was soon nipped in the bud as bosses at the social media giant removed the event page early on Monday afternoon and reportedly suspended the accounts of certain users who had posted images.
“Facebook authorizes users to mobilize around common causes, including cultural ones, but it cannot authorize the cause itself to encourage users to disrespect the terms and conditions of use,” a spokesman for the site told AFP news agency.
“Certain publications do not fall into the artistic category and fall under pornography,” the spokesman added.
Monday’s day of action is not the first time there has been a clash in France between Facebook and the world of art over the publication of nude photos.
Earlier this year the famous Jeu de Paume art gallery in Paris had its own Facebook page temporarily closed down after it posted an image of a famous nude painting.
Comments
See Also
The French have always been big on liberté and its modern Facebook users appear to be no different when it comes to nude photographs.
Upset at Facebook’s aversion to bare flesh, certain French networkers on the social media site organized a “Day of Nude on Facebook” on Monday to protest against what they see as unfair censorship.
The online event, which had more than 8,000 participants, was launched by French photographer Alain Bachellier.
He encouraged everyone to publish a nude photograph on the Facebook event page on Monday in order to highlight the “ridiculous censorship that flouts the basic rules of our freedom of expression in the name of puritanism or the moral rules of another age”.
While many appeared bold enough to put a photo of themselves on the event page, others preferred to stick to the artistic theme of the protest and post an image of a famous nude painting, France’s Huffington Post reported.
However the online show of dissent was soon nipped in the bud as bosses at the social media giant removed the event page early on Monday afternoon and reportedly suspended the accounts of certain users who had posted images.
“Facebook authorizes users to mobilize around common causes, including cultural ones, but it cannot authorize the cause itself to encourage users to disrespect the terms and conditions of use,” a spokesman for the site told AFP news agency.
“Certain publications do not fall into the artistic category and fall under pornography,” the spokesman added.
Monday’s day of action is not the first time there has been a clash in France between Facebook and the world of art over the publication of nude photos.
Earlier this year the famous Jeu de Paume art gallery in Paris had its own Facebook page temporarily closed down after it posted an image of a famous nude painting.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.