Facebook sued in France for blocking nude painting

Paris: Social media giant Facebook would be tried in France for blocking a French teacher's account after he posted an image of a nude painting, a media report said.

Facebook was sued by a teacher whose account was blocked after he posted a 19th century painting by Gustave Courbet, ‘The Origin of the World', depicting a woman's genitalia. The teacher filed a complaint against the social media giant, saying the site could not differentiate between pornography and art. A Paris appeals court threw out Facebook's appeal after the social media giant argued that only the US courts had jurisdiction to hear cases against it.

The teacher's lawyer Stephane Cottineau said, "They might be multi-nationals but the court ruling means they are not outside French law. If they set up in France and contract workers here, then French law must be applied to them," Cottineau added. The French court will now decide whether or not the teacher's freedom of expression was violated.