Feminist group successfully reposts topless photo on Facebook after deletion

Posted on : 2018-06-04 16:54 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Fire Femi Action fights to liberate female body via social media
The civic group Fire Femi Action announced on their Facebook page that they successfully reposted a topless photo that had been deleted by the social media company for reasons of obscenity. (Facebook)
The civic group Fire Femi Action announced on their Facebook page that they successfully reposted a topless photo that had been deleted by the social media company for reasons of obscenity. (Facebook)

A topless photo posted online by a feminist organization that had been deleted for being “nude and obscene” has been put back online.

Around midnight on June 3, the civic group Fire Femi Action announced that a post containing “a photo of women freely choosing to be topless” that had been posted on May 29 and then deleted by Facebook was up again. “The recovery of our post is complete,” the group said.

“Fire Femi Action will keep fighting until the day that women’s bodies are no longer sexually objectified,” the group said while posting the apology that Facebook had sent to confirm the post had been restored.

During the Menstruation Festival that was held on May 26, the group organized a “long live free titties” event at which attendees took off their tops and posted a photo of the event on Facebook.

“We will dispense with the image of obscenity and the male-centered image of beauty that has been imposed on the female body and take off these stifling bras,” group members said. Facebook subsequently deleted the post, classifying it as “nude and obscene” material.

At 1 pm on June 2, activists with the group held a press conference in front of the main office of Facebook Korea in the Yeoksam neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam District at which they criticized Facebook while eight activists removed their tops. The police notified the activists that removing their tops might be public obscenity and concealed their bodies with blankets. During this process, there was a scuffle between Fire Femi Action and the police.

During their press conference, Fire Femi Action criticized Facebook’s policy for sexually objectifying the female body. “Facebook does not delete topless photos of men. And even though it deleted the nude photo that women posted of their own free will, it does not always delete photos of women’s bodies that have been taken illegally,” activists said.

By Choi Min-young and Jang Soo-kyung, staff reporters

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories