Norway Accuses Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook of Draconian Censorship Over Deleted Photo of ‘Napalm Girl’
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook came under intensive firestorm in Norway for deleting a photo of the famous ‘Napalm Girl’. At the center of the controversy is the deleted image, known as “The Terror of War,” was shot by Nick Ut in 1972. It depicts nine-year old Kim Phuc fleeing from napalm bombing during the Vietnam War.
Zuckerberg and Facebook faced intense accusations of censorship from Norway’s largest newspaper and the nation’s prime minister on Friday following its decision to delete posts containing the Pulitzer-winning image.
One of Norway’s popular dailies, Aftenposten flailed Zuckerberg in an open letter to the Facebook chief executive on its front page, lashing out at Mark Zuckerberg for “limiting freedom.” The editorial said that it couldn’t accept that the social network had removed the Vietnam picture from the daily’s Facebook profile earlier this week.
Norway’s Prime Minister joined the bandwagon by a scathing post on Facebook. In a Facebook post, Prime Minister, Erna Solberg blasted the networking giant for its abuse of power while deleting the iconic photograph. “Facebook gets it wrong when they censor such images,” she said. “I say no to this type of censorship.”
Facebook acknowledged facing a challenge. “While we recognize that this photo is iconic, it is difficult to create a distinction between allowing a photograph of a nude child in one instance and not others,” a Facebook official said in an emailed statement.
The Facebook official declined to comment on Ms. Solberg’s statement, saying only that its rules applied to everyone.
Facebook has been at the heart of many such deleted posts. Its content policies have come under growing scrutiny because the social network has become one of the world’s largest platforms for news distribution.
Update # Facebook has bowed to the popular wishes in Norway and restored the image.