The pictures of ‘naked’ pets and friendly ghosts that fell foul of Facebook nudity laws

Animal lovers say Facebook rules are resulting in innocent pet snaps being investigated for containing nudity.

Users of the popular social network site are being hit with repeated probes over innocuous snaps as the web giant drives forward with a crackdown on naughty pictures.

Pictures of rabbits, cats and even Casper the friendly ghost have fallen foul of the crackdown, finding themselves investigated amid decency fears.

Gas engineer Ross Wilson, 26, from Dalgety Bay, Fife, was gob-smacked when he received a notice saying a picture of his puppy was being investigation for containing nudity.

He said: “I put some pictures of my new puppy, Dougall, up online last week with my other dog, Daisy, snuggling in for a cuddle.

“Less than a day later I got a message from Facebook saying my photo was reported for violating their community standards on nudity.

“At first I thought it was a belated April Fool, but then realised they were deadly serious.

The photo Ross Wilson posted on Facebook

“It’s true my two dogs weren’t wearing any clothes but what dogs do?

“I told all my friends on Facebook about it and was contacted by other people who said the same thing had happened to them.

“There must have been another five people in the same boat all pulled up for showing their pets with no clothes on. One friend said a rabbit picture was being examined and another a picture they put up of Casper.

“Facebook later got back to me to say after considering the picture it was going to approve its use.”

Deryck Wilson, a dog-owner and spokesman for pet charity PDSA, is amazed dogs and cats are being deemed naked if they’re just in their natural fur coats.

He said: “We believe a well-dressed dog wears a nice collar with ID and very little else. Some dogs appreciate a coat when it’s cold but, by and large, our canine friends look best as nature intended.”

Last month, US-based Facebook re-issued rules on what material is banned on its site.

Its revamped community standards gave more details about what types of nudity it allowed. It came after a row about “brelfies” pictures of new mums breast-feeding.

In January two Kaya Wright, a nurse from Liverpool, was reported to moderators on the site after posting a picture of herself breast-feeding her 16-month-old son Kayden.

Facebook bosses later passed the snap.

Last month’s rules explain breast-feeding pictures are OK as long as they don’t show a nipple.

A spokesman for Facebook said: “We don’t comment on individual cases.”

However, he said they were duty-bound to investigate all complaints. He added that Facebook allowed pictures of animals clothed or otherwise.