Facebook has been accused of ‘absurd political correctness’ after it censored photos of classic works of art because they contained nudity.
The subject matter included 19th century paintings depicting naked women and bare breasted aboriginal woman.
Images of the work had been uploaded to Facebook by an auction house to promote an upcoming sale.
But representatives from the social network said the posts breached its advertising policy stating ‘adverts must not contain adult content’.
Facebook censored photos of classic works of art because they contained nudity including 19th century paintings depicting naked women and bare breasted aboriginal woman
The stringent regulation goes so far as to prohibit images of classic paintings and sculptures.
Tim Goodman, of the auction house involved, has now written a scathing open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
In it he pointed out that Facebook ‘robots’ were failing to distinguish between pornography and art.
‘As a brand, Facebook seems to be using its monopoly over social interaction to impose absurd standards of political correctness’, he wrote.
‘Facebook is not drawing any distinction between hyper-sexualised images of women, pornography, nudity for awareness, nudity for innovation, and nudity in art.
‘The problem is not the fact that you have conservative advertising guidelines, it’s that you’ve designed a system that doesn’t allow for real judgement’, he said.
Mr Goodman’s Australian auction house, Fine Art Bourse, is selling nude and erotic paintings, sculptures, photographs and cigarette cards by artists including Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
‘The censorship issue requires ethical judgement, human sensibility, and accountability’, said Mr Goodman.
‘I believe failure is inevitable if you continue to rely on robots to handle complaints and individual cases, rather than train your staff.
Some of it the Fine Art Bourse sells highly sought-after nudes worth up to £40,000 (£51,500) a piece but representatives from the social network said the posts breached its advertising policy stating ‘adverts must not contain adult content’
Mr Goodman said he tried to clarify with Facebook via email what the issue was but received automated, standard responses. In it he pointed out that Facebook ‘robots’ were failing to distinguish between pornography and art
‘You’re running one of the 10 most valuable companies of the last decade and your censorship protocol on nudity is no more sophisticated than a brief to an office in Hyderabad, India to ‘remove sexual content’.’
Some of it the Fine Art Bourse sells highly sought-after nudes worth up to £40,000 ($51,500) a piece.
‘Some of the work is by important British artists, a number of which are in the Royal Academy’, said Mr Goodman.
Mr Goodman’s Australian auction house, Fine Art Bourse, is selling nude and erotic paintings, sculptures, photographs and cigarette cards by artists including Andy Warhol and Keith Haring
FACEBOOK NUDITY
In 2016 Facebook reinstated the iconic photograph of a naked girl, nine-year-old girl, Kim Phuc, fleeing a napalm attack during the Vietnam War after widespread outrage.
Politicians of all stripes, journalists and regular Norwegians backed Prime Minister Erna Solberg, defiantly sharing the Pulitzer Prize-winning image by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut.
In 2016 Facebook reinstated the iconic photograph of a naked girl, nine-year-old girl, Kim Phuc, fleeing a napalm attack during the Vietnam War after widespread outrage
‘What they do by removing this kind of image is to edit our common history,’ Solberg told the AP in a phone interview.
In June Facebook was blasted again after it accidentally removed a photograph of a topless mother breastfeeding her baby.
Art student Mica Bohannon, 22, took the photo of the woman nursing her baby as part of a project for Arts University Bournemouth and later shared her work on the social network.
Art student Mica Bohannon, 22, took the photo of the woman nursing her baby as part of a project for Arts University Bournemouth and later shared her work on the social network
However she received a message from Facebook notifying her that the image, which shows the woman’s nipple, had been removed because it violated the Facebook Community Standards, which include rules on nudity, sexual and violent content.
Facebook was alerted to the mistake and restored the image to Miss Bohannon’s page within a few hours.
‘We have beautiful 19th century French paintings and one of two aboriginal woman performing an aboriginal dance and they are bare breasted with paint on their bodies and Facebook objected to that.’
Mr Goodman said he tried to clarify with Facebook via email what the issue was but received automated, standard responses.
One response stated: ‘We don’t allow adverts that depict nudity, even if it isn’t sexual in nature. This includes the use of nudity for artistic or educational purposes.
‘Adverts like these are sensitive in nature and hence are not allowed.’
The row comes two weeks after a mother visiting the V&A Museum in London was told to cover up by a member of staff who saw her breastfeeding.
Museum director Tristram Hunt quickly backtracked and apologised for the incident.
The Fine Art Bourse sale is in Sydney on September 12.
One response stated: ‘We don’t allow adverts that depict nudity, even if it isn’t sexual in nature. This includes the use of nudity for artistic or educational purposes
Tim Goodman, of the auction house involved wrote a scathing open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Museum director Tristram Hunt quickly backtracked and apologised for the incident