Facebook has long perpetuated an unabashed tirade against world-famous art, including Gustave Courbet’s "Origin of the World" and Edvard Eriksen’s "The Little Mermaid." Artist Peter Kaaden posted a picture of a nude statue at the Louvre, which was taken down within minutes.
Facebook has transformed statues at the Louvre from pinnacles of artistry into smut. The most preposterous element to their obscene censorship, is that it contradicts the very simply stated community policy which claims Facebook will "allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures.”
Despite this claim, Facebook has repeatedly taken down material of established and amateur artists alike. However, the censorship doesn’t stop with art pieces. On numerous occasions, Facebook has deleted images of nipples, which were posted to raise awareness of the symptoms of breast cancer. Moreover, it’s not only that Facebook is censoring images, but the site is also disabling users’ accounts.
As the world’s most popular social media platform, where many artist network and sell pieces, Facebook should be more sensitive to the distinction between pornography and art. There is an inherent sexism in the underpinnings of most of the censorship. A female nipple is always censored but never a male one. Also, despite these incredibly strict actions against artists, breast cancer survivors and breastfeeding mothers, Facebook continues to permit the circulation of images promoting rape and domestic violence, such as the image of a battered women with comments such as “women are like grass, they need to be beaten/cut regularly.” A Facebook spokesperson referred to the perpetuation of rape culture as “crude attempts at humor," adding that "distasteful content on its own does not violate our policies.”
The very community policies that Facebook cites as the sole justification for their actions are inherently wrong. The glorification of rape and abuse is treated as a joke, while a breastfeeding mother is compared to photographic obscenity. Facebook needs to rewrite its policies so it respects art and femininity instead of promoting chauvinism and inciting illegal activities.