Facebook faced outrage Friday for repeatedly deleting a historic Vietnam War photo, including in a post by Norway's premier, which appears to be the first case of the social network censoring a government head.
An active social media user, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg defied Facebook early Friday by posting the photograph, which the US behemoth says violates its nudity rules.
The 1972 picture of a naked Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack was taken by photographer Nick Ut Cong Huynh for Associated Press and is considered one of the war's defining images. It was honoured with the Pulitzer Prize.
Solberg's post was taken down several hours later, deleted by Facebook, she said.
"What Facebook is doing by deleting photos like this, as good as their intentions are, is to edit our common history," she wrote in a later post.
"I hope Facebook will take advantage of this opportunity to review its editorial policy," she added.
Solberg had posted the picture in the name of freedom of expression amid a brewing debate in Norway.
The affair began several weeks ago after Norwegian author Tom Egeland published a post about war photos, illustrated by the iconic picture. It was promptly deleted by Facebook.
Norwegians rose to his defence and published the photo, posts which Facebook also deleted in line with its rules barring nudity.
"While we recognise that this photo is iconic, it's difficult to create a distinction between allowing a photograph of a nude child in one instance and not others," a Facebook spokesperson said in an email to AFP.
"We try to find the right balance between enabling people to express themselves while maintaining a safe and respectful experience for our global community," it said.
