Facebook Reinstates Iconic Vietnam War Photo After Criticism

Facebook announced Friday that it will reinstate the iconic Vietnam War-era photo of the "Napalm Girl" after the social media network was widely criticized for removing the photo that was shared by a Norwegian author.

"After hearing from our community, we looked again at how our Community Standards were applied in this case. An image of a naked child would normally be presumed to violate our Community Standards, and in some countries might even qualify as child pornography. In this case, we recognize the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.

"Because of its status as an iconic image of historical importance, the value of permitting sharing outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal, so we have decided to reinstate the image on Facebook where we are aware it has been removed," the statement said.

The writer, Tom Egeland, who shared the photo of the naked 9-year-old girl, Kim Phúc, running away from a napalm attack, tweeted, "Now I'm happy!" The tweet, posted in Norwegian, roughly translated into "for those who said there is no point, there is a point."

The sequence of events, explained by the Guardian, started when Egeland's account was suspended. The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten then reported on the suspension with the same photograph that was again shared to Facebook when the newspaper was asked to remove or pixelate the photo. Facebook reportedly deleted the article and photo from the newspaper's Facebook page before it could respond.

The editor of the paper, Espen Egil Hansen, wrote an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg titled, "Dear Mark. I am writing this to inform you that I shall not comply with your requirement to remove this picture." In the letter, Hansen called Zuckerberg "the world's most powerful editor" and accused the Facebook co-founder of abusing his power.

"I think you are abusing your power, and I find it hard to believe that you have thought it through thoroughly," Hansen wrote.

In the statement issued Friday, a Facebook spokesperson said the company would review its mechanisms to permit sharing of the image going forward.

"We are always looking to improve our policies to make sure they both promote free expression and keep our community safe, and we will be engaging with publishers and other members of our global community on these important questions going forward,” the statement said.

News organziations are heavily reliant on Facebook for distributing their content. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 44 percent of adults get their news from Facebook. In late August, Facebook announced it would be automating its trending section and would no longer have people write descriptions for the trending topics.

"I have written this letter to you because I am worried that the world’s most important medium is limiting freedom in stead of trying to extend it, and that this occasionally happens in an authoritarian way," Hansen wrote in conclusion. "But I am also writing – and I hope you will understand this – because I take a positive attitude to the possibilities that Facebook has opened up. I only hope that you will utilize the possibilities in a better way."

Image Credit: Sarah Marshall via Flickr Creative Commons