File this under: ‘It Had To Happen Sometime…’
With Facebook’s seemingly arbitrary censorship rules more than likely frustrating more people than they ‘help’, it seems as if France has undergone the straw that broke the camel’s back.
In a move that could create a new, huge precedent across the world, the French Government is locked in what could turn in to a bitter dispute with the blue part of the Zuckerberg empire. France wants to be the one decide whether or not one of her citizens can be banned from Facebook. Naturally, Facebook isn’t too keen on that and thus the battle has begun.
Should France get what it is looking for, a host of other nations and law courts could follow suit in short order. Owing to Facebook’s T&Cs, the company claims any such complaints can only be held in California.
The origin of the dispute lies with a post made by a man named Frédéric Durand-Baissas. He posted a snap of ‘L’Origine du Monde’ (NSFW) an oil painting from 1886. The painting, if you’re are not able to click on it just yet, is nothing more than a representation of a woman’s lower half, legs open.
After being censored and subsequently suspended from the site, Durand-Baissas has since sought damages and France has become embroiled in the dispute. We await the outcome with baited breath…
