Facebook 'sorry' as it makes u-turn on Tess Holliday bikini ad ban
Facebook has said sorry for banning an ad featuring an image of plus-sized model Tess Holliday.
The social network has now made a u-turn after rejecting an ad for an event organised by Australian feminist group Cherchez La Femme.
The 'Feminism and Fat' panel, which aims to celebrate body positivity, was due to be promoted via an ad on the platform earlier today using the above image but it was spiked by Facebook, with the site's ad team saying the promotion depicted a body in an "undesirable manner".
"Ads like these are not allowed since they make viewers feel bad about themselves," read the moderator's response.
Posting the above screenshot on Facebook, the event organisers said: "We're raging pretty hard over here - both because Facebook seemingly has no idea that plus sized, self describing fat women can feel great about themselves, and also because we haven't been able to boost the original damn post."
Facebook told the BBC that the ad was banned in error: "Our team processes millions of advertising images each week, so we occasionally make mistakes," said a spokesman.
"To be clear, the image complies with our advertising policies. We have now approved the image and apologise for any offence this caused."
Cherchez la Femme is not directly linked to Holliday, and her management have yet to confirm whether use of the image in the ad was authorised.