New Delhi: Social networking giant Facebook offered its apology for banning an ad featuring a plus-sized model from Australia in a bikini, citing the depiction of the photograph ‘undesirable’.
The ad for Melbourne's "Cherchez La Femme: Feminism and Fat" gathering was blocked by Facebook on the grounds of advertising violations.
In reply to query of organisers of the gathering, the Ads Team at Facebook wrote "the image depicts a body or body parts in an undesirable manner".
Jessamy Gleeson, one of the organisers, posted online a screenshot of the letter by the Ads Team.
"Ads like these are not allowed since they make viewers feel bad about themselves,” it read.
Stunned with Facebook’s reply, Gleeson wrote, “Facebook has ignored the fact that our event is going to be discussing body positivity (which comes in all shapes and sizes, but in the particular case of our event, fat bodies)."
“They have come to the conclusion that we've set out to make women feel bad about themselves by posting an image of a wonderful plus-sized woman,” she added.
However, Facebook later apologised in a written note, said Gleeson.
"Our policies are in place to help protect the community from offensive ads that can damage their experience on our platform," the note read.
"This is not the case here and I'm sorry for our incorrect review. We evaluate millions of ads per week and there are instances that we incorrectly disapprove an image that does not violate our policies," it added.
