RAEL’S COMMENT:
Ridiculous! Facebook is using a technology of the future following principles of the Middle Age or Christian Inquisition. It’s becoming a guardian of old Judeo Christian sex guilt values instead of being a force of modernism, science, and liberation of dark ages taboos. Slowly, thanks to democracy, the world is evolving toward a freer and more open-minded society while Facebook is one of the powers trying to slow down this access to freedom. We cannot avoid wondering who are the people behind this idiotic and ultra-conservative censorship. Maybe it’s time for Facebook management to replace these censors by younger and more open-minded people.
Facebook has blocked an Australian auction house from advertising an acclaimed artist’s painting depicting nude figures.
Charles Blackman’s oil work Women Lovers features two nude women resting on a bed beside a cat.
Art broker Mossgreen tried to promote it on Facebook, but the social media network rejected it for “advertising adult products or services”.
Mossgreen chief executive Paul Summer said the decision was “ridiculous”.
“This is a very beautiful image that is not overtly sexual in any shape or form,” he told the BBC.
“It’s like going back to the 1950s. It’s ridiculous to censor this sort of thing.”
Facebook said its decision was final, although Mossgreen has since reposted images of the work.
“Such ads lead to negative user sentiment and we have zero tolerance towards such advertisements,” Facebook said in a message.
Last month, a French teacher took Facebook to court after it suspended his account for posting an image of a nude woman painted by 19th Century artist Gustave Courbet.
Acclaimed artist
Mr Summer said Women Lovers was expected to sell for more than A$45,000 (£28,000; $34,000) at auction next week.
“Nobody said a single thing until Facebook suddenly decided it was going to offend somebody,” he said.
