The picture was branded ‘disgusting’ by one Facebook user (Picture: Facebook)

Facebook is facing criticism after it took down a lesbian kiss posted on the site to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The photo, which shows two women kissing, was posted on the social media site by Italian Carlotta Trevisan, a 28-year-old mother of one.

But she says her friends’ reactions to the photo were mixed, with one user calling it ‘disgusting’.

Facebook then contacted Ms Trevisan in the wake of the complaints and told her to remove the image, saying it ‘violated the community’s standards on nudity and pornography’.


The site later admitted the removal of the picture had been ‘a mistake’ and reinstated her account, although only after Ms Trevisan claims her profile was taken down for three days.



According to The Local, Ms Trevisan said: ‘How can they say a kiss, which is something so loving, is nudity or porn?’

Ms Trevisan says she is not gay but has taken part in several protests for gay rights.

She has also been spurred on by Italy’s reluctance to create an anti-homophobia law.

‘This right is a fundamental thing for the LGBT community and it’s incredible that Italy doesn’t yet have this law in place,’ she said.

A Facebook spokesperson said: ‘In an effort to quickly and efficiently process reports we receive, our community operations team reviews many reports every week, and as you might expect, occasionally, we make a mistake and block a piece of content we shouldn’t have.

‘We can understand how people can be frustrated with this when, as in this case, a mistake happens.’