Is this photo offensive?
Well, somebody at Facebook thought so — and determined that this wedding photo that appeared on the Facebook page “Gay Marriage USA” not only violated their “policies and community standards,” but was worthy of blocking the page admin from posting on Facebook for a week.
But now Facebook has apologized, said the photo was removed in error, and did not violate any rules.
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Last week, Murray Lipp, the page owner of Gay Marriage USA, said he was notified by Facebook that the picture received several complaints and that he would be banned from posting to his page’s 300,000 followers for a week, reported the Guardian.
Lipp claimed that he has been reprimanded by Facebook numerous times over the past year following complaints he feels are originating from anti-gay subscribers to his page.
“Not once has Facebook ever contacted me to give me an opportunity to respond – it simply blocks me each time and each time the block is for a longer period of time,” Lipp told the Guardian. “It’s totally unjust that I should be punished for someone else’s homophobia.”
This time Lipp’s Facebook ban lasted only one day — after being notified of the situation by the Guardian, Facebook relented and reinstated the Gay Marriage USA page.
The couple in the photo are identified as “Kelsey (Pentecostal Pastor) and Erik (Pentecostal Bishop),” who were married April 28, 2012.
