A shocking New York Times documentary
Within hours of the publication of an article in the New York Times on the war and famine in Yemen, Facebook deleted posts from readers who had tried to share the article on their profiles.
Apparently, the cause was a shocking photo of a bony child starving. The controversial article in the American newspaper contained several pictures of children, but the photo of 7-year-old Amal with flesh thin enough to erase the bones of her chest was the one that caused the most sensation.
Tens of thousands of readers shared the article on Facebook, but a few hours later, some received a message informing them that the post did not conform to the standards of the Facebook community.
This is not the first time Facebook has encountered the wrong image.
Jarjieh Fang, a graduate student in Washington, D.C., read the article and found the photos shocking.
He posted a link to the article on his Facebook page and received a notification a few hours later. The post was deleted, a move that was accompanied by a Facebook message warning him of the content.
Many people protested similar treatment on social media or in e-mails to reporters in the story. But, it is not clear how many people were affected. Tens of thousands shared the story on Facebook and many, including the Facebook page of the New York Times, were unaffected.
"As our rules explain, we do not allow nude images of children on Facebook, but we know this is an image of global significance," a spokesman said in an online statement. "We are restoring the posts we removed to this database," he added after the reactions.
The article highlighted the plight of Yemeni civilians in the midst of a devastating war as the Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States, launched a relentless airstrike campaign that killed thousands of civilians. The economic war has exacerbated the despair of many Yemeni families and the country is in danger of a deadly famine. The conflict began almost three years ago and resurfaced after the assassination of Jamal Kasogi, who turned his attention to Saudi Arabia's activities in the region.
In another article, the editors of the New York Times explained why they decided to publish photos of children who die late. "They are tough, but they are also crudely honest. They reveal the horror in Yemen today. You can choose not to see them. "But we thought it should be you who will make that decision."
Facebook uses a combination of algorithms, employees, and notifications from users to view content that may need to be removed. The company had no information on the number of people the posts with the photos were removed on Friday.
"We are pleased to say that Facebook has changed its mind," said Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times. "It is incredibly disappointing to believe that this story will be ruled out as an image that violates community guidelines. "The job of journalists is to testify and give a voice to those who are not otherwise heard."