Facebook blurs a post-wound photo of lawyer Masi Nayyem, sees it as "violent or graphic content"
Facebook blurred a photo of lawyer Masi Nayyem, who lost an eye in the war, in a post by ZMINA. The media reported this on their website.
The news post was about the victim's lawyers in the case a 14-year-old girl in Zakarpattia having been raped effectively interrupted the filming of the "Hovoryt Ukraina" program at Studio 1+1, that the victim's family and herself were taking part in.
After a complaint sent by the editors and media expert Ihor Rozkladai, the photo was unblurred.
The social network blurred the photo for alleged "violent or graphic content."
"I posted a news piece with Masi Nayyem's comment about 1+1 planning to film a talk show with the raped girl from Zakarpattia. When the post earned a lot of reactions and shares, the social media blurred Masi's photo on the news page, because it 'contains violent or graphic content,'" said ZMINA's social media editor Serhiy Kochmarsky.
As the media expert, CEDEM deputy director Ihor Rozkladay explained, in this case, the blur of violent or graphic images was most likely automatic. Facebook has a rule that generally prohibits posting images that fall under this category, he reminded. However, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, some such photos are allowed if blurred.
However, in the case of Masi Nayyem's photo, the situation is different, because it is an image of a person as he is, the expert clarified.
"That is, it is not an image of a person affected by some specific recent event. A person lives like this every day. I filed a complaint because now this will apply, unfortunately, to many veterans with certain injuries: loss of limbs, scarred faces, etc.,” said Rozkladay.
He emphasized that journalists and activists can contact him if they encounter such cases.
"I cannot guarantee a positive outcome, but if I see that it is worth contesting, I can file a complaint," said the expert.
As IMI reported, in early March, Meta (owner of Instagram and Facebook) said that Ukrainian content on Facebook is not being moderated from Russia, and that posts are not being deleted due to complaints alone.
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