What Facebook’s policy on nudity, photos means in practice

Frederic Durand-Baissas, a 57-year-old Parisian teacher and art lover whose Facebook account was suspended five years ago without prior notice, speaks during an interview in Paris on Friday. — AP

What are Facebook’s rules for posting nude images

The question is at the forefront again after a French court ruled Friday that a French art teacher can sue the social media service after it suspended his Facebook account. Although Facebook hasn’t given a reason, the account suspension came after he posted an image of a classical painting featuring a female nude.

Facebook’s rules on nudity have evolved over time. The latest community-standards policy, from March 2015, says Facebook restricts photos of genitals or fully exposed buttocks, as well as some images of breasts if they include the nipple. But Facebook says it allows photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring.

“We restrict the display of nudity because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content - particularly because of their cultural background or age,” the policy states.

Here’s what that means in practice

Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding pictures were the subject of controversy for years. Breastfeeding moms protested when images were pulled. In 2009, 11,000 people staged a virtual “nurse-in,” replacing their profile photos with nursing ones. It’s not clear when Facebook’s policy changed internally, but about two years ago the policy wording changed to specifically allow photos of nursing mothers.

Mastectomy photos: In 2013, more than 20,000 people signed an online petition, led by photographer David Jay and breast-cancer survivour Ann Marie Giannino-Otis, urging Facebook not to ban mastectomy images. Facebook responded with an official policy that permits the vast majority of mastectomy photos. Giannino-Otis said Friday that while the policy change helped, many mastectomy photos are still flagged by other users and removed by Facebook. Facebook didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday.

Photos of Children: In July 2014, North Carolina photographer Jill White’s Facebook account was suspended after she posted a photograph of her daughter and a friend on Coppertone’s Facebook page. Her 2-year-old daughter’s buttocks were partially visible, an homage to the famous Coppertone image of a dog tugging at a child’s swimsuit. White says her account was suspended twice, and she was warned it would be banned permanently if she didn’t take the photo down. She replaced it with the same image with an emoji covered the offending part. But after friends got away with posting the original photo, she started doing it, too — so far without problems.