Social media giant Facebook may be rethinking on its content policies but is not at the fire of protests from Flemish tourist board. The social media network removed a number of posts featuring paintings by renowned Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens as they showcased nudity. Facebook took down a number of promotional ads for the Belgian region as they featured paintings of voluptuous women and cherubs. One of the posts removed included Rubens ‘Descent from the Cross’ painting which shows a bare-chested Jesus.
As per Facebook's policy, any ads containing sexually oriented content, including artistic or educational nudes, apart from statues, are prohibited. Meanwhile, the Flemish Tourist Board is using all the means to attract visitors to the Flemish Master Project by 2020. A number of "Paintings by Flemish Masters" exhibitions are currently underway in several locations across northern Belgium. But the advertising is proving difficult with Facebook’s censorship. To oppose the move, a playful protest is also being done by the Visit Flanders agency. They have made a video which shows security staff removing visitors if they have a Facebook profile and are found to be looking at a painting of nudity.
Toerisme Vlaanderen, the tourism board has also issued a letter to Mark Zuckerberg which has been signed by a number of museums. The letter protests about how the nudity ban was preventing the promotion of the works. The letter reads, "We have noticed that Facebook consistently rejects works of art by our beloved Peter Paul Rubens… Even though we secretly have to laugh about it, you cultural censorship is making life rather difficult for us." It also adds, "If Peter Paul Rubens had created a Facebook account in his lifetime, he would have had an extraordinary number of people following his fan page."