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Facebook removes 'sexually explicit' image of 450-year-old statue of Neptune

Neptune, baring all (Rex)
Neptune, baring all (Rex)

The trigger happy Facebook censors have been at it again.

A woman who posted a picture of Bologna’s celebrated Neptune statue has been told the image is too “sexually explicit” for the social network.

This is despite it having stood in Italian city for 450 years.

Elisa Barbari, a local writer, was shocked to see the image removed for breaching Facebook’s strict guidelines on nudity after posting it online.

The statue depicts Neptune, the sea god and counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon, standing naked.

It is an early work by Giambologna, completed about 1567.

“It contains an image with an explicitly sexual content that shows the body excessively or concentrates on parts of the body more than necessary,” the site said.

“I wanted to promote my page but it seems that for Facebook the statue is a sexually explicit image that shows off too much flesh. Really, Neptune? This is crazy!” Ms Barbari said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

“Back in the 1950s, during celebrations for school children graduating, they used to cover up Neptune. Maybe Facebook would prefer the statue to be dressed again,” she added.

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Ms Barbari added she was left “indignant and irritated” by the decision.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Facebook said: “Our team processes millions of advertising images each week, and in some instances we incorrectly prohibit ads. This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologise for the error.”

However, the image has not been reinstated.

Last year, Mark Zuckerberg was accused of censorship after Facebook removed an image of the famous ‘Napalm girl‘ photograph taken during the Vietnam war.