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Gay News: Social networking site Facebook has reversed its decision to ban a photo of two men kissing
By: Nigel Robinson

The offending kiss

Facebook in U-turn over gay kiss

19 April 2011

Facebook has apologised after it removed a photo of two men kissing from a user’s profile, claiming that it contained “nudity or any kind of graphic, sexually explicit content” and in doing so violated their terms of service.

The photo portrayed a (fully clothed) gay kiss from BBC soap EastEnders, and was used to illustrate the recent same-sex kiss-in at the John Snow pub in London’s Soho.

Following a storm of protest from gay groups, and thousands of Facebook users, and the creation of a Facebook page called “Kissing Is Cool”, Facebook withdrew the ban.

In a statement, Facebook said: “The photo in question does not violate our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and was removed in error. We apologise for the inconvenience.”