Skip to main content

Fury over Facebook 'Napalm girl' censorship

Facebook has controversially removed the iconic image of a girl fleeing a Napalm attack during the Vietnam war from a post, on the grounds of nudity.


The editor of Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten said the entire post, which was about iconic war imagery, was later deleted and the account of the reporter behind it suspended.

Espen Egil Hansen has accused Mark Zuckerberg of "an abuse of power".

Facebook said it has to restrict nudity for cultural reasons.

Mr Hansen said the image of Kim Phuc, then aged nine, was removed less than 24 hours after the newspaper received a request from the firm to either take down the image or pixelate it and before it had responded.

"While we recognise that this photo is iconic, it's difficult to create a distinction between allowing a photograph of a nude child in one instance and not others," Facebook said in a statement.

"We try to find the right balance between enabling people to express themselves while maintaining a safe and respectful experience for our global community. Our solutions won't always be perfect, but we will continue to try to improve our policies and the ways in which we apply them."


Several Norwegian politicians, including Prime Minister Erna Solberg, also shared the image but within hours it had been removed again, Aftenposten reports.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Arsenal’s Wenger concerned by Chinese spending power

Arsene Wenger fears the huge wages being offered by big-spending Chinese clubs could cause problems when the Premier League teams look to negotiate new contracts with their star players.  Wenger is currently locked in talks with Arsenal duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez as the pair reportedly seek parity with the best-paid players in the Premier League. The Arsenal manager is hoping for successful resolutions to those contract stand-offs, but he believes the money on offer in the China Super League may persuade the Premier League’s star names to ask for even bigger pay packets to stay in England. Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been linked with a move to China, with an offer of £600,000-per-week ($739,000) reportedly on the table for the Spain international. Two of his former Chelsea team-mates, Oscar and John Obi Mikel, have already moved to Super League outfits, while former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez became the highest-earning player in the world when h...

Return Nigeria’s Stolen Assets, SERAP Urges Trump

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the President of the United States of America (USA), Donald Trump, to attach and release to Nigeria, some $500 million worth of US-based proceeds of corruption traced to former Nigerian dictator, late General Sani Abacha. SERAP, which made this request in an open letter it send to the US President, also urged President Trump to initiate discussions with the Nigerian government to fulfill these objectives within an agreed framework and timeline. The organisation in the letter dated 3 February 2017 and signed by the organization’s US Volunteer Counsel Professor Alexander W. Sierck and executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, also wants the Trump’s Administration to instruct the Justice Department to initiate civil asset forfeiture proceedings in regard to the $500 million in assets. SERAP further stated, “these proceeds are separate from the $480 million of Abacha-origin funds that have been forfeited to the US...

Gumsu Abacha Mourns Brother, Ibrahim Who Died In A Plane Crash 20 Years Ago

Daughter of late military Head of State, Sani Abacha, Gumsu Abacha took to social media to pay a touching tribute to her brother, Ibrahim Abacha. Late Ibrahim who was the first son of late Sani Abacha died in a plane crash on January 17,1996 along with 13 others. According to AP, the pilot was inexperienced and the plane was carrying too many people. Another reports meanwhile states that an engine problem might have been the cause of the crash. She shared a photo of him and wrote: “Ibrahim Sani Abacha. ..20 years today. Allah ya jikan ka da rahama. Amin. .. u will never be forgotten. .. I remember so well the last time i saw u and u were giving Inna a goodbye hug.. not knowing it was actually gonna be The Last Goodbye.” she wrote.