Male models back after falling foul of Facebook rules
A Facebook page which posts photo shoots of male models to a generally gay audience was suspended on Friday afternoon after an image was singled out for being inappropriate.
L’Homme du Jour, or Man of the Day, had its administrative access reinstated on Friday night after 4,600 fans were faced with being left without updates over the weekend.
The page currently holds between 50 and 70,000 images of the crème de la crème of male photographic subjects.
Some may have thought the image of Leo Silva posing almost au naturel, taken by Brazilian photographer Antonio Bezerra, had a certain je ne sais quoi.
But Facebook initially disagreed, saying it contravened the community standards rules in its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, and delivered a coup de grâce, temporarily revoking L’Homme du Jour’s administrative rights on Friday.
Ray Clark, the page’s administrator, told PinkNews.co.uk at the time: “I think that the removal of this image is outrageous, we live in a modern society where people (and especially women) are allowed to wear even skimpier and even less than what is shown in this image. This image contains no nudity nor is it sexually suggestive.
“On numerous occasions we have advised Facebook that we are committed to adhering to their community standards and have asked them to clarify exactly what is and isn’t acceptable, but of course they remain mysteriously silent on the issue.”
The social networking site performed a volte-face on the decision hours later, reinstating the administrator rights at 9.30pm GMT.
Facebook’s approach to reports of community standards infringements is turning into a bête noire for some and a feeling of déjà vu would be forgiven after the US military’s gay support group OutServe was also briefly suspended and reinstated after a user reportedly claimed it was infringing its own rights last month.
At the time, blogger John Aravosis wrote that Facebook needed to establish better processes, saying: “This is starting to reek of an anti-gay action by the fake complainant, and we can’t have Facebook setting up a precedent where they pull down the pages of legitimate gay groups every time a homophobe makes up a lie.”
On the subject of who may have prompted L’Homme du Jour’s suspension, which at first looked set to become a cause célèbre, Clark told PinkNews.co.uk: “I think that what is really happening here is a planned and strategic attack on our page by conservative and/or religious groups who are against anything other than an overall.
“But this will only serve to encourage us to post more and more content of this type.”
Vive la résistance.
