Monday 16 September 2013

Censorship, Friendship and Facebook

My partner is participating in an upcoming OS road race, and has joined a Facebook support group with other competitors so they can bounce ideas, stay motivated and organise meet ups before and after the race. They all have the common interest of running, but as they come from around the globe, the cultural differences are beginning to creep in.

One member has gone early and hit Vegas. He posted a photo of himself with this statute on the Strip. He was doing nothing lewd, just standing with the 'most photographed statute in Nevada'.


For those of you familiar with Il Porcellino in Sydney, you'll know why those behinds are shiny...

Anyway, one international member of the group did not like this photo, and reported him to Facebook for pornography. She had been friendly with the guy, but didn't approach him directly, nor did she give him warning of her actions. He found out when he was approached by Facebook.

This raises a number of questions for me:
1. Do you find this image offensive?
2. If you did, would you report is to Facebook?
3. If you would report it to Facebook, why would you not just ask the guy to take it down?

I understand, there is a cultural Australian aspect where we don't dob, we don't rush to authorities etc. We are also a little more laidback in our attitudes to pretty much everything, for the most part. I could even understand reporting it to the art police, but each to his own, I guess.

I also wonder, if that statue is considered pornographic on Facebook, would you also be reported for this one? (ah, yes, that old chestnut - what is art and what is pornography?)

                                                               image from Wikipedia

My other question is, how do you then socialise in person with someone you've reported online?

Would love to hear views on this, or have you ever reported anything you've seen on Facebook?

Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT and Talk to Us Thursday


27 comments:

  1. Not offensive - merely a stark reminder that I need to get back to the gym.

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  2. I think they need to go to the hairdresser...

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  3. Nope not offended. And if I was I would just not look at it for goodness sake. I had someone report one of my images of my son in the inflatable pool naked (I had even blurred out his "bits" in photoshop so you really couldn't see anything) and it was removed and I got a warning letter! FFS my photos are all private, which means one of my FRIENDS reported it...WTF? Makes me irate really! -Aroha

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    1. That is just ridiculous !!! How would a photo like that be offensive to anyone ?? Sometimes people take things too far.
      What a pity you can't find out who reported you and take it up with them to find out just exactly what it was on the photo with blurred bits that was so offensive to them.
      Have a great day !
      Me

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    2. It's weird your friend didn't say something to you?? I get we all have different tolerance levels and opinions, but I don't get that you go over the persons head without a heads up first...

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    3. I wish we could have found out, too. I had suspicions on a family member, but no proof at all obviously. I don't get going over someone's head either. Was very frustrating.

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  4. I don't find it offensive, and I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it to be as well. But I do understand how some cultures might find it offensive. Just that if I'm friends or on talking terms with you, I wouldn't just report you to FB! Most decent thing to do is to approach you first. That's my opinion :p

    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

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    1. I do think we notice a cultural divide in these issues, and Australians have a higher acceptance of these sorts of things than most other nationalities. I kept religious reasons out of this, though obviously that can also be a factor.
      I get some people might find it offensive, I don't get that you wouldn't talk to the person about it.

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  5. I don't find either of those offensive. I certainly wouldn't report anyone to FB for something they have posted but if I did find something offensive I would go to them and ask them to take it down. Having said that, more often than not if someone posts something I find offensive, I just click away - it's not that hard !!!
    Have the best day !
    Me

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  6. I have noticed with teacher issues, some people go straight to the principal, rather than discuss it with the teacher first. I'm more of a go to the source person, myself...so this is sort of like that, I guess. But it's not giving the person the opportunity to understand and probably respect your opinion...

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  7. To be frank, I'm surprised he heard from FB about it at all. I read something recently written by a guy that works at their "offensiveness monitoring" division and he said they get thousands, millions of these reports every day. And they have a full-time job keeping the REALLY horrid, nightmare-inducing stuff off FB, let alone pictures of naked statues!

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  8. Once again it confuses my as to what on earth is offensive about it. I must be extremely laid back, because I am always astonished at what offends other people. I respect their point of view but am still baffled for the most part.
    Reporting the photo seems a bit weird and your comments make much more sense. Even so, whether you report it or ask for it to be taken down, you would still have the issue of socialising after the fact.

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    1. I can see some women might think it's offensive - I think you could ask to have it taken down and still be friends (or am I naïve?)

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    2. If you were the artist, it would be offensive, but if it's just some statue you took, would you care?

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  9. No I don't think it's offensive, but having said that, I don't think it was particularly smart of the guy to post it in a group with various cultures when you don't really know the people in it. I'd just be considerate of how others may view it.

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    1. yes, it's important to be sensitive to boundaries. It's interesting what some people have said to the group!!??!! But I think the cultural thing is far greater than we think, between the U.S.A and Australians.

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  10. I don't find it offensive at all. If I did I would probably ignore it or approach him directly if it really bothered me. The whole jumping to the reporting stage really seems like a step to far but who knows where she was coming from or what experiences she may have had in the past to drive her to take that step.

    Another controversial post Lydia... ;)

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    1. That did occur to me after I dug up the one for yesterday (great link up prompt by the way). Clearly I have issues with issues with statutes.

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  11. Wow really? When there are so many other things to get upset and offended about these days?! Umm they aren't in fact REAL naked bums! I would not report something on FB. I have better things to do with my time! Em @ Have A Laugh On Me

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  12. It doesn't offend me, but if it did offend me, I'd probably comment on the picture saying so in the first instance, then PM the poster if I didn't get the response I'd hoped for. Especially in a closed group situation where future communication could be made awkward by misunderstandings.

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  13. Not offensive to me either and I would certainly contact someone directly if it was bothering me. People are strange and fb is even stranger with what gets pulled down and what stays

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  14. It's something that is in a public place. Sometimes I do wonder about the sense of some people. If the pic was in a facebook group the admin could've asked for it to be removed so not such a big deal was made.

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  15. Wow, I don't think I'd want to socialize with someone like that - and I reckon she will avoid him too, thinking he's a sex maniac lol. Really interesting piece Lydia - its all so subjective. I had a similar situation in a chemist recently where three parents were watching the news waiting for their scripts including me. A story came on about kids learning to pole dance. None of us found it offensive ... But would I send my daughter ... Probably not?? I think I've raised more questions than answered yours but again great piece x

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  16. Can't see why that is an image worthy of reporting!!

    Coming by from #BlogsandPr Talk To Us Thursday

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  17. I don't think the picture is a big deal, I've seen a lot worse on FB. If people post stuff (regularly) that I find offensive on Twitter or FB, I either "hide" or "unfollow" them. It's that simple!

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  18. Facebook has some very strange ideas about what is acceptable. Your comparisons are spot on, both are cheeky statues, and I don't have a problem with either.

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