February 26, 2011 | Online

Facebook doesn't like naked bodies

The New York Academy of Art is none too happy with Facebook, when last month the website removed a series of drawings by artist Steven Assael for supposedly violating Facebook's terms and conditions. Assael's images showed naked people. Egad!

The Academy was then blocked from uploading any images for seven days, and a war of words started.

"As an institution of higher learning with a long tradition of upholding the art world’s 'traditional values and skills', we, the Graduate School of Figurative Art, find it difficult to allow Facebook to be the final arbiter – and online curator – of the artwork we share with the world," the Academy posted. "If Facebook is a new online Salon de Paris, where a faceless group of 'curators' determine what artwork the public should see, well then please consider our website the Salon de Refusés!

"If it begins with Steven Assael, a modern master, who's next?"

Facebook reacted by removing images from the accounts of two more Academy alumni – Richard Scott and John Wellington, but later apologized, reinstating the images.

Facebook spokesman Simon Axten admitted that sometimes Facebook gets things wrong. Sometimes?

Facebook pulls naked smutty filth from NY Academy of Art page [The Register]