Facebook pulls Auschwitz photo for nudity

Social media giant later apologizes to Anne Frank Center for decision.

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 05:42
The Facebook application is seen on a phone screen August 3, 2017. (photo credit: THOMAS WHITE / REUTERS)
The Facebook application is seen on a phone screen August 3, 2017.
(photo credit: THOMAS WHITE / REUTERS)
Facebook deleted a post last week that included an image of starving children in Auschwitz because of its policy against nudity.
The post was shared by the US-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect last week. It linked to an article on the Daily Kos blog about the need for Holocaust education in the United States.
But on Wednesday, the Anne Frank Center complained on Twitter that Facebook had deleted the post.
“Hi Facebook, you removed our post promoting the need for Holocaust Education for apparently violating community standards,” the organization wrote. “You haven’t given us a reason, yet allow Holocaust Denial pages to still exist. Seems a little hypocritical?”
Around six hours later, Facebook responded to the Twitter post.
“We put your post back up and sent you a message on FB,” the official Facebook account tweeted. “We don’t allow nude images of children on FB, but we know this is an important image of historical significance and we’ve restored it. We’re sorry and thank you for bringing it to our attention.”
Facebook came under fire last month after its CEO said it would not delete posts that included Holocaust denial.
 
In a July interview, Mark Zuckerberg defended the social media platform’s policy of not automatically deleting posts that make false claims.
“I’m Jewish, and there’s a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened,” the Facebook CEO said. “I find that deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe that our platform should take that down, because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong.”
After a great deal of outcry, Zuckerberg partially walked back his statement, saying: “I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that.”