Facebook removes gay kiss photo for ‘being sexually suggestive’

Facebook has apparently removed a photo of two men kissing for being “sexually suggestive” and “abusive”.

The image, of a gay kiss on UK soap EastEnders, was used by US writer Niall O’Conghaile to accompany a blog post about the ‘kiss-in’ held to support a gay couple who were kicked out of a pub.

Richard Metzger, the editor of the Dangerous Minds blog where the news story was published, posted the story on Facebook but received a warning from site administrators about the image.

He claims the message said: “Content that you shared on Facebook has been removed because it violated Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Shares that contain nudity, or any kind of graphic or sexually suggestive content, are not permitted on Facebook.

“This message serves as a warning. Additional violations may result in the termination of your account. Please read the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities carefully and refrain from posting abusive material in the future. Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation.”

Facebook has been criticised for over-zealous policing of imaging, including removing pictures of mothers nursing newborn babies.

Mr Metzger believes that a troll posting on his Facebook wall may have reported the image as being inappropriate.

He has also questioned whether an event page for the pub kiss-in was removed by Facebook and is urging users to repost the EastEnders photo as much as possible.

He wrote: “I’ve written to Facebook asking them why this content was removed, but have at this point received no reply. I’ll update this post when I do. In the meantime, why not share this photo on FB as much as you can?”