After Joanne Jackson beat breast cancer she wanted to share her story with the world. However, when she posted photos of her mastectomy scars on Facebook, the images were flagged as offensive and later removed from the site.
The 40-year-old British woman had posed for a photo shoot to celebrate her life and decided to upload 11 images to the social networking site in order to inspire other women in similar situations, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner reports.
But Jackson received a notice from Facebook explaining that some of her content had been taken down because it violated the company's policy regarding nudity.
Soon, the mother took her story public and posted one of the offending pictures on her Twitter account:
"I am not one who is shy but these pictures weren’t as much about me as about other women who had maybe just been diagnosed with breast cancer," Jackson told the paper. "The images aren’t fluffy, they are real and I am very proud of them.”
- Read Jackson's full story at the Huddersfeild Daily Examiner.
Facebook's community standards page contains the following clause regarding the use of nudity and pornography:
Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and imposes limitations on the display of nudity. At the same time, we aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo's David or family photos of a child breastfeeding.
And although a Facebook representative said the company had no issue with mastectomy photos, it's not the first time the site has found itself amid controversy regarding images that have been flagged offensive.
Earlier this year, the social networking site admitted to erroneously removing photos of a Tennessee couple's deceased newborn son.
Heather and Patrick Walker had uploaded photos of Grayson James, who passed away eight hours after coming into the world due to a rare birth defect. The couple wanted to share his memory with their friends, but Facebook deleted the photos shortly after they were posted.
The company later apologized after ruling the photos didn't violate any of the site's guidelines.
Still, plenty of users have found support and comfort through Facebook's online community.
Kimberley Steele discovered a lump in her breast while she was in the shower. Since then, the Michigan woman has shared parts of her battle with breast cancer with friends on Facebook, and she's says the support she's received has helped with her recovery, My Fox Detroit reports.