Frank Cho blocked from Facebook. Again

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Liberty Meadows creator and comic book artist Frank Cho reports that for three days he was suspended from Facebook for the second time after he posted a sketch of a topless “Jungle Queen hanging onto a flying Pterodacty”.

From his blog:

Well, it happened again. Facebook lowered the boom on me. They censored my art and suspended me for 3 days.

The art in question was a drawing of topless Jungle Queen hanging onto a flying Pterodactyl. Yes, you?ve heard correctly ? a DRAWING of a topless woman.

Sigh.

America is very backward and goes against common sense in some ways. You can show people getting killed, tortured, and maimed in most violent ways but you can?t show nipples on a woman because that?s crossing the line.

I worry for this country.

I’m not surprised by Facebook’s action. I don’t think their content rules are a secret. I’m more surprised that Frank is surprised given the nature of his work.

15 thoughts on “Frank Cho blocked from Facebook. Again

  1. I’m a bit puzzled as to why anyone joins Facebook. The whole idea of an adult posting there is just creepy. (imho). For a child or teen or one in arrested development it seems merely ill-advised, if admittedly fun.

  2. I wouldn’t blame America for this. I agree with Alan, it’s part of Facebook’s user terms. On top of that, I don’t think Facebook actively polices what people post to see if it is appropriate. Other users have to flag the image first, then Facebook checks it out and makes a call.

  3. Cho used to complain about “censorship” when he had his strip, too. I didn’t understand the issue then, I don’t understand it now. It’s like a guy signing up to play basketball and then getting mad because they won’t let him tackle people.

    You can’t take it personally when they enforce the rules. Find a game with rules you like.

  4. Donald, it’s clear that you don’t know the first thing about facebook. In response to everyone else, I’ve seen far more explicit things posted on facebook than this. Clearly not a whole lot of people into the first amendment here.

  5. Agreed that Donald doesn’t know much about Facebook and social media in general, but let’s talk about the First Amendment, because it’s not relevant here and that’s a more interesting issue.

    Facebook is a private company and they’re allowed to make their own rules. Facebook has a “no tits” rule, which is kind of silly — I’ve seen lots of bare asses, but you can’t show bare tits. But breast-feeding mothers got Facebook to ease up on the no tits rule, so they’re not unapproachable.

    My argument would be that nobody on Facebook is required to “friend” Frank and those who choose to can then unfriend him or block him if they find that stunted adolescent sexual fantasies are not their cup of tea.

    Meanwhile, however, Sports Illustrated is not required to publish cake recipes, CBS is not required to broadcast your wedding video and Facebook is not required to post tittie pics.

    In any case, Facebook isn’t about “self-expression.” It’s about collecting a crowd. My son responded to one of those “Facebook is about to start charging its users!” rumors by saying that Facebook will charge its users when zoos begin to require the animals to purchase tickets.

    The advertisers are Facebook’s customers. Users are the exhibit. The key to intelligent use of Facebook is knowing that it is and then making your own decision accordingly.

  6. Agreed: first amendment is a more interesting topic. Fbk can ban tits and skiing squirrel videos if it wants. Meanwhile a Christian baker in Colo. is socially firebombed because they refuse to make a gay wedding cake (there’s a Muslim baker down the street but they didn’t ask them). Hobby Lobby is sued because they oppose abortion in a pill and the boyscouts are sued for their gay scout stance. The list goes on. I applaud Mr. Cho (a brilliant draftsman) for trying but surprised? Nope.

    More private enterprise from last week found Paula Deen (an Obama supporter and contributor) stupidly groveling to Matt Lauer and getting the back of the lefts hand when she should have asked why Bill Mahr, Tarnatino, G. Paltrow, Revs Jackson and Sharpton, etc. etc. use the N word like asking for directions -and a lot more recent that 27 yrs. ago.

    Her question should have been “why am I held to a different standard?” Anderson Cooper asked that very question: why is Alec Baldwin still working after making gay slurs? I’m guessing the answer is that CitiBank considers the source. Baldwin = cool liberal. Deen = hillbilly Ga. butter queen racist. If that’s their stance then “F U” CitiBank.

    ?Mankind are very odd Creatures: One Half censure what they practice, the other half practice what they censure; the rest always say and do as they ought.? -Ben Franklin

  7. I’m not sure what Mike Lester’s point is, except that once again there’s a big liberal conspiracy out there that punishes anyone they think isn’t “politically correct”, which in practical terms almost always means racist. But as a conservative, I suspect Mike supports the notion of a free market. In the cases he cites, the free market has decided to sanction celebrities who make tons of money off their public personas(and a baker whose business relies to a large extent on the goodwill of his community) for acting in ways it finds inconsistent with those personas. Maybe those sanctions are applied inconsistently and even hypocritically. But hey, that’s unfettered commerce for you. It pays to know your customers, doesn’t it?

  8. Exactly my point Mike, if one has intellegence one avoids giving oneself up knowing one will be used in ways that cannot be predicted precisely, but are clearly granted in agreeing to the terms of servce.

    You say I don’t know how to use them, I say you don’t know how they use you. It is not a question of right or wrong, but of values and perception

    The actions a user takes both actively and passively can have effects on so called ‘friends’ that may or may not be welcome. Masterbation will never go out of style, especially now that social media allows unknown parties to profit from that of its users. I am not attacking social media, but merely accessing the ‘cost’ of these ‘free’ services regardless of how we value their utility.

    .

  9. Well, there you go: Frank can’t put drawings of boobies on Facebook despite the fact that Muslim bakers are happy to make cakes for weddings that offend their religious beliefs.

    I hope we’ve all learned something today.

  10. Don’t blame America Cho! Only the United States. I’m sure that in other countries of the continent that would not happen. But you’re right in the United States they still have the mentality of the English puritans of the 16th century.

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