The censored item was purportedly because of “nudity” in a photograph published by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) of a protest in the West Papuan capital Jayapura in August last year during the Papuan Uprising against Indonesian racism and oppression that began in Surabaya, Java.
The original version of this photo, of West Papuan nambas (traditional penis gourds), which was published in the weekend edition of the family newspaper Vanuatu Daily Post and then by Asia Pacific Report, was deemed to have breached Facebook’s “community standards”. The photo was by award-winning photojournalist Ben Bohane, who lives in Vanuatu and whose work was published recently in the PMC book Conflict, Culture and Conscience.
Media freedom advocates claim that the Philippines is facing its worst free expression and security crisis since the Marcos dictatorship, with The New York Times denouncing the “ruthlessness” and “viciousness” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s disdain for democracy in his bid to close the critical Rappler.
…if the complainant attempts to take me to the District Court I will ensure everyone knows what the material is and ask for you all to spread it as far and as wide as you can.