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![The social networking site needs to be more explicit about what's too explicit. By <a href="http://sharpformen.com/author/mark-moyes/">Mark Moyes</a><div id='nr_fo_top_of_post'></div><p>“Is it slutty to have bikini pictures on Facebook?” reads a Yahoo! Answers post in the “Adolescent” category from earlier this summer. It might seem like a naive question, but it’s obviously pressing for some young women: it’s been posed to Yahoo’s group-answer site more than 300 times in various forms. The post from earlier this summer garnered nine answers; the best, chosen by the asker, was a simple, one-word “Nope!”</p>
<p>But the answer isn’t so simple, at least not according to Facebook. Earlier this month, celebrity teen bride <a href="http://www.celebuzz.com/2011-10-13/teen-bride-courtney-stodden-too-sexy-for-facebook/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.celebuzz.com']);" target="_blank">Courtney Stodden had her account deleted</a>; her mother told E! Online it was because her bikini photos were too sexy. Toronto-based swimwear model <a href="http://www.mandymonroe.net" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.mandymonroe.net']);">Mandy Monroe</a> has had her account deleted five times in five years; she no longer posts her photos on her <a href="www.facebook.com/modelmandymonroe" target="_blank">profile page</a>. “My pictures are all in bikini or lingerie, nothing pornographic,” she complains. (Those are her photos pictured above.)</p>
<p>Facebook’s current <a href="http://www.facebook.com/terms.php?ref=pf" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.facebook.com']);" target="_blank">Statement of Rights and Responsibilities</a> page prohibits pornography and nudity, but makes no mention of what content is too suggestive. Users have had content removed with the explanation that, “Content that you shared on Facebook has been removed because it violated Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Shares that contain nudity, or any kind of graphic or sexually suggestive content, are not permitted on Facebook.”</p>
<p>“Any kind of sexually suggestive content” can be interpreted as subjectively as Facebook wants. It’s that kind of loose definition that has led to the banning of <a href="http://www.techdigest.tv/2011/07/facebook_ban_ni.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.techdigest.tv']);" target="_blank">Nirvana’s famous album cover from the band’s page</a>; the removal of a <a href="http://michaelzimmer.org/2011/04/21/facebooks-censorship-problem/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://michaelzimmer.org']);" target="_blank">photo of two men kissing</a>; the censoring of <a href="http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/facebook-bans-pregnancy-portraits/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://blogs.babycenter.com']);" target="_blank">a pregnant woman’s self-portrait imitating the famous Demi Moore <em>Vanity Fair</em> cover</a>; and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/20/kylie-minogues-racy-teddy_n_688787.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.huffingtonpost.com']);" target="_blank">Kylie Minogue holding a teddy bear</a> onstage. And yet there’s enough suggestive content on Facebook to provide a seemingly inexhaustible supply of <a href="http://thechive.com/2011/06/03/posting-bikini-pics-on-facebook-takes-balls-and-a-great-body-30-photos/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://thechive.com']);" target="_blank">Hottest</a> <a href="http://thechive.com/2011/03/04/bikini-clad-facebook-girls-give-me-hope-for-summer-26-photos/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://thechive.com']);" target="_blank">Bikini</a> <a href="http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/561871214yehkaF" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://outdoors.webshots.com']);" target="_blank">Girls</a> Of <a href="http://acidcow.com/girls/12458-hot-facebook-girls-100-pics.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://acidcow.com']);" target="_blank">Facebook</a> galleries.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that the policy is confusing for users. Tila Tequila proved on MySpace that sex buys as well as it sells–her bikini pictures (coupled with an outgoing personality) bought her 2 million friends. Why shouldn’t Facebook be the same? And the argument that Facebook is more of a family-oriented site becomes confused with Facebook actively courting businesses. Sex sells. Provocative images sell. If Nirvana can’t catch a break, what’s a bikini model to do?</p>
<p>Censorship is a tricky political issue. Unwilling to take a strong stand, it seems that Facebook is now resorting to a form of mild harassment. Days after Courtney Stodden’s account went down, Facebook apologized, claiming the account was deleted by mistake. Mandy Monroe’s account was deleted most recently not for pornography but because her profile name didn’t match her birth name. (It matched her professional name.) This type of virtual badgering may work in the short term, but is ultimately ineffective. Especially against the tenacity of someone like Monroe, who has dutifully re-friended all her contacts each time she has recreated her account. As proof of her doggedness–and somewhat ironically–she wrote in after this piece was published to ask us to encourage readers to ‘Like’ her on Facebook. (<em>Sure thing, Mandy. You can Like her model page <a href="http://www.facebook.com/modelmandymonroe" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.facebook.com']);">here</a></em>.)</p>
<p>Facebook needs to figure out how it’s going to handle this. For the users’ sakes–so we know what we will and won’t see–if nothing else. Whether that means different access levels for different age groups, a pop-up warning for “inappropriate” material, or a strong no-bikini-shots stance is up to them to decide. But they need to be explicit about it.</p>
<div id='nr_fo_bot_of_post'></div> <span id="pty_trigger"></span> Are these pictures too sexy for Facebook?](http://sharpformen.com/wp-content/gallery/mandy-moore-too-hot-for-facebook/mandymoore9.jpg)