Headlines around world for Facebook doll censorship story but NOTHING in the US media yet

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Quick update on the Victoria Buckley Jewellery Facebook doll censorship row:

The latest news is here. In short: The ‘Save Ophelia from Facebook censorship‘ Facebook group was simply deleted by Facebook without a trace (AFTER they had deleted the offending doll images leaving only the discussion of Facebook censorship), and Victoria has had to take down any images showing a trace of porcelain (the doll equivalent of flesh) from the Victoria Buckley Jewellery Facebook page.

There has been more coverage of the story overnight. Victoria particularly likes the coverage by Toronto Sun in a story titled Facebook censors nipples on $40K doll which brings out her thoughts on some of the issues at sstae here:

“I’m tired of the female form being an object of prurience exploited by men. I think people are so becoming used to the female form as a symbol for lust, that they have trouble reading it as a representation of other values.

Buckley calls the dolls — which were created by Marina Bychkova for Enchanted Dolls and are worth between $6,000 and $40,000 US — “fine art” that shouldn’t be censored.

“I have to say, I’m not a doll lover. In fact, I loath 99.99% of dolls. Enchanted Dolls are art works,” she said. “For me, they are best seen, not covered. The detailing of their bodies is what wipes our eyes clean and gives the slight ‘shock of the new’ that partly defines a true art work.”

The UK Metro has also reported on the Facebook censorship furore, drawing on the coverage of celebrity news agency Splash.

Countries where there has been mainstream media coverage so far that I’m aware of include:

Australia: Sydney Morning Herald broke the story and it hit #1 read story on the site, IT Wire, Smart Company , The Age, News.com.au, and many more

UK: New Statesman, London Evening Standard, Metro and others

Canada: Toronto Sun, Winnipeg Sun, and others

Germany: Der Spiegel, Gulli, and many others

France: Europe1 radio

Italy: Il Mediterraneo

Switzerland: 20 Minuten

New Zealand: The Press, TV NZ3

India: Sindh Today, DNA, and others

Finland: MTV3

Austria: Die Presse, Der Standard, and others

Indonesia: Tribun-Timur

Israel: YNet

Despite the headlines around the world, there has so been NO coverage in the US media of this story.

I wonder why.

Is it because the story is too risqué for Americans? Is it because of discomfort with the mentions of “American puritanism” in the international media? Is it that they don’t want to criticize a US company? Have US media organizations simply not noticed the story or thought it not worth covering?

It is also worth nothing that as far as I’m aware Facebook has not yet responded to any of the many media requests for comment on this. This story has gone far beyond a quirky interest story to one not only about public standards to one about arbitrary, unwarranted and unexplained actions on what is now a fundamental business platform for many.

I’d be very interested in any thoughts on the total void on this story in the US.