FB blocks photo of 16th century statue of Neptune, says it is "sexually explicit"

Blocks pic of 16th century statue of sea god Neptune in Bologna for being sexually explicit

The statue of Neptune in Bologna, Italy. Pic/Facebook/Elisa Barbari

London: Facebook blocked a photograph of a 16th century statue of sea god Neptune posted by an Italian art historian, claiming it is “sexually explicit”. The social media giant later apologised, saying the censorship was a mistake.

Elisa Barbari had chosen the statue in the Italian city of Bologna, which shows Neptune naked and holding a trident, to illustrate her Facebook page — Stories, curiosities and views of Bologna. But, she was asked to remove the photograph as it fell foul of Facebook’s privacy policies.

The artist responded to a statement released by Facebook, with a post on her page: ‘Yes to Neptune, no to censorship’.

“How can a work of art, our very own statue of Neptune, be the object of censorship?" she asked.

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