Facebook blocks photo of iconic little Mermaid statue, says it has 'sexual undertones'

A Danish member of parliament tried to share a
photo of Copenhagen’s iconic Little Mermaid
statue on Facebook but received a rejection
notification saying it could not be published
because of rules on nudity.

The rejection message
shared by MP Mette Gjerskov on Facebook, which
has now gone viral, says, "The image contained
too much bare skin or sexual undertones".

Facebook also added that the rules applied for
images which have ‘artistic or educational’
purpose. However, it later relented and approved
the image.

The social media giant had clarified its stand on
nudity and its community standards in general on
March 15, 2015.

"We remove photographs of people displaying
genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks.
We also restrict some images of female breasts if
they include the nipple, but we always allow
photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding
or showing breasts with post-mastectomy
scarring. We also allow photographs of paintings,
sculptures and other art that depicts nude figures,"
it said.

Facebook said that its harsh stand "can sometimes
be more blunt than we would like and restrict
content shared for legitimate purposes". But from
time to time it has encountered problems over
legitimate posts.