A view of the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna | Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images Nude Neptune sunk by Facebook’s privacy controls Writer told that photo of statue is ‘sexually explicit.’

A statue of Neptune in the Italian city of Bologna has fallen foul of Facebook's privacy policies, which claim it is "explicitly sexual."

According to the Telegraph, local writer Elisa Barbari chose the 16th-century statue from Piazza del Nettuno to illustrate her Facebook page “Stories, curiosities and views of Bologna.”

But the social media giant wasn't happy at the nude Nettuno.

“I wanted to promote my page but it seems that for Facebook the statue is a sexually explicit image that shows off too much flesh. Really, Neptune? This is crazy!” Barbari said, the Telegraph reported.

In a statement, Facebook told the artist: “The use of the image was not approved because it violates Facebook’s guidelines on advertising. It presents an image with content that is explicitly sexual and which shows to an excessive degree the body, concentrating unnecessarily on body parts.

“The use of images or video of nude bodies or plunging necklines is not allowed, even if the use is for artistic or educational reasons.”

Barbari responded by writing: “Back in the 1950s, during celebrations for school children graduating, they used to cover up Neptune. Maybe Facebook would prefer the statue to be dressed again.

“How can a work of art, our very own statue of Neptune, be the object of censorship?”

A Facebook spokesperson said: “Our team processes millions of advertising images each week, and in some instances we incorrectly prohibit ads. This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologize for the error and have let the advertiser know we are approving their ad."

In September last year, Facebook was accused of censorship after a Norwegian writer was told to remove an iconic photograph of a naked girl running from napalm attacks during the Vietnam War from a post about images that changed history on the grounds that it broke nudity rules. Facebook later backtracked on its decision.

This article was updated with a response from Facebook.

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