Facebook’s grotesque nudity censorship policy

Open Letter

Lund, Sweden, July 1, 2016

Dear Facebook friends

Yes, I consider this blocking of me – because of posting an image of nudity – for one day unreasonable.

Here is why:

The image of a naked young woman in water was taken from the Danish daily newspaper, Politiken – one of Denmark’s most respected newspapers.

This image was generated automatically by Facebook when I posted the link to the article on my profile page – i.e. not something I did deliberately or to provoke.

Secondly, the image is created by a Swedish professional and respected artistic photographer, Matilde Grafstrom – and is part of a project “Nude In The Public Space”.

The article is about an exhibition of these her works at the main square in Copenhagen – for anyone from anywhere in the world to see.

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I am myself a PhD in sociology and have specialised during 40+ years in international peace-making and peace research. Have worked or visited some 60 countries on all continents. I am also an art collector and art photographer who has taken many photos of women, young and old – portraits and bodies.

I tell you this because I am not insensitive to the respect we must all show for each other’s cultures and sensitive ethical issues if and when we want to live and work together on this earth.

Continue reading “Facebook’s grotesque nudity censorship policy”

Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International Writers

Just published by PEN in the US: Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International WritersThis is deeply disturbing: “Concern about surveillance is now nearly as high among writers living in democracies (75%) as among those living in non-democracies (80%).The levels of self-censorship reported by writers living in democratic countries are approaching the levels reported by writers living in authoritarian or semi-democratic countries.And writers … Continue reading Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International Writers