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

Ross Dawson, July 10, 2010 at 4:25 am

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.

For the most current insights and trends in the living networks, follow @rossdawson on Twitter!

http://networksingularity.com John T Maloney

Ophelia doesn’t get covered (sorry) here in the US media because it’s your basic naked white chick story. No, that isn’t interesting to the US media at all.
If the US media was to pick up this story, then Ophelia would have –
1. To be an illegal alien, member of the New Black Panthers or a Fox News anchor
2. To have been mentioned in Sarah Palin’s blog as a supporter and a “Mama Grizzly”
3. To be a lesbian trucker in that can’t marry her lover doll that happens to be a schoolteacher
4. To have three glasses of chardonnay and fallen down at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood
5. To have been against gun ownership, a Baptist, a persecuted union member, Republican’s mistresses or on American I-Doll
Any one of these parameters would make Ophelia a US media darling and above-the-fold in the New York Times and the lead story MSNBC for weeks, maybe months.
js

In the US (perhaps more than elsewhere), cheap & opportunistic publicity stunts are a dime a dozen.
But before I delve into that, let me first respond to Ms. Buckley’s comment that “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”:
…Is she referring to “other values” like, say, conspicuous consumption – for example, in an advertising-based association to high-end jewellery? Nah, she couldn’t be…because if anything, that’s an even MORE common “symbolic” use of the female form in Western society. (And that’s exactly what this story is: it’s common.)
But perhaps more to the point:
The fact is, Facebook has every right to delete anything they want from their site – with or without any explanation, justification, prior notice, or even consistency. (Just like you have every right to delete this comment from your blog, if you wish!)
Victoria can accept that and create a Facebook-specific ad campaign to suit. Or she can reject it, and advertise elsewhere. Or she can do both.
End of story.
…And incidentally, that “end of story” is probably also why there are so few RESPECTED news organizations in your list of the international publications that have carried the story so far: There is no story here, other than VB trying (and succeeding in large part – thanks, no doubt, to the “nipples sell newspapers” rule) to get her 15 minutes of fame.
(And while I’m at it, I should note that she has also been succeeding with the support of your misleading suggestions that this somehow has something to do with “public standards” rather than Facebook’s standards; with Facebook’s “unexplained actions,” even though they have an explicit “no female nipples” policy; and so on. Nice try, though. And who knows? Maybe some American journalists might be stupid enough to fall for it, yet!)
…Does that answer your question?
http://www.rossdawson.com Ross Dawson

Thanks John – useful insights!
js, not much worth responding to in your comment, but I think Facebook would like at least the appearance of acting in a predictable manner – and it’s news of interest to hundreds of millions if they don’t.
BTW CNET has now covered the story and levered an apology from Facebook:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20010205-71.html
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Ross Dawson is globally recognized as a leading futurist, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, strategy advisor, and bestselling author. He is Founding Chairman of AHT Group, which consists of 3 companies: consulting, publishing, and ventures firm Advanced Human Technologies, future and strategy firm Future Exploration Network, and events company The Insight Exchange.

Ross is author most recently of Implementing Enterprise 2.0, the prescient Living Networks, which anticipated the social network revolution, and the Amazon.com bestseller Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships (click on the links for free chapter downloads). He is based in Sydney and San Francisco with his wife jewellery designer Victoria Buckley and two beautiful young daughters.