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Facebook has removed a photo of aboriginal men used to prove racism in Australia, after claiming the photo included nudity.
The picture was shared online to prove racism had taken place in Australia off the back of the country’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, saying there had been no slavery there.
In the picture deemed inappropriate, nine aboriginal men can be seen wearing loin cloths and chains around their necks, while three fully clothed white men, one of whom is holding a large gun, stand by.
In a radio interview on Thursday, June 11, Morrison was asked about the removal of statues following Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol pulling down the statue of former slave trader Edward Colston.
Speaking about Australia’s history, Morrison said:
Australia when it was founded as a settlement, as New South Wales, was on the basis that there’d be no slavery. And while slave ships continued to travel around the world, when Australia was established yes, sure, it was a pretty brutal settlement.
My forefathers and foremothers were on the First and Second Fleets. It was a pretty brutal place, but there was no slavery in Australia.
Following the bold statement from the Australian prime minister, someone shared the photo of the aboriginal men in the late 1800s online, but it was later removed by Facebook due to ‘nudity’, The Guardian reports.
Those who tried to share the image were greeted with the message stating the post went against Facebook’s Community Standards due to it containing nudity or sexual activity.
The photograph has since been restored however, with Facebook apologising for its removal. A spokesperson from the social media site explained it must have been removed ‘by the automated system in error’.
Morrison has since acknowledged there were ‘hideous practices’ in Australia’s history when asked if he considered ‘blackbirding’ as slavery. Blackbirding was the practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders and using them as forced labour, in particular on sugar and cotton plantations in Australia.
Answering the question, Morrsion said, ‘There have been all sorts of hideous practices that have taken place, and so I’m not denying any of that’, as The Guardian reports.
Following the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests taking place across the globe, including in Australia, America and the UK, it’s evident institutional racism is still taking place and is keenly felt in these countries, as well as elsewhere.