Family Outraged Baby Pictures Deleted, Facebook Apologizes
A Facebook spokesperson emailed Channel Seven this statement Monday:
"Upon investigation, weconcluded the photo does not violate our guidelines and was removed in error.Facebook is a place where almost a billion people share more than 300 millionphotos a day. Our dedicated User Operations Team reviews millions of pieces ofthis content a day to help keep Facebook safe for all ages. Our policies areenforced by a team of reviewers in several offices across the globe. This teamlooks at hundreds of thousands of reports every week, and as you might expect,occasionally, we make a mistake and remove a piece of content we shouldn'thave. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and we sincerelyapologize for any inconvenience."
Friday, May 18:
(KATV) The week Facebook announces they're going public, some members are crying foul saying they're discriminating against a grieving mother.
Social media allows us to post comments about our daily lives, the best and worst of times. Well, a Memphis mom decided to post pictures of her now deceased new born and ended up getting banned.
During an ultra sound, Heather Walker was told her third child had a fatal rare birth defect. February 15th, Grayson James Walker was born and lived 8-hours. Still a proud parent Walker posted pictures on Facebook but never expected what would happen next.
This is Grayson James Walker, parts of his brain and skull didn't form. He was photographed by Now I Lay me Down to Sleep, a foundation that specializes in capturing the only moments a family will have with their deceased new born.
But Facebook deleted them and then banned the mom when she re-posted them.
Jennifer Thomas says, "Each picture was taken with great taste, great love. He was dressed in the beautiful little clothes his mom had picked out for him and at the end of the day she went home with those clothes, she did not go home with her baby."
Thomas knows how the family feels, the confusion and sadness. She says, "She would be two if she was still here."
Thomas had a silent birth with daughter, Gracie Lynn, born pre-mature. Thomas is now a member of the Arkansas organization, Holy Sews. Volunteers sew tiny clothing for mother's expecting angel babies.
Many of them post pictures on Facebook and haven't been removed like the Walker family.
According to Facebook's community standards page, this type of content is deemed offensive and will be removed: Violence and Threats, Self-Harm, Bullying and Harassment, Hate Speech, Graphic Violence, Nudity and Pornography, Identity and Privacy, Intellectual Property, Phishing and Spam
"The pictures don't meet any of the standards that Facebook has on their website. Thomas continues, "That's their way to share the baby with their family and how much they do love him."
Thomas has two boys now, but not a day goes by she doesn't think of their sister. "Those babies were only here with us for a short time. The pictures are what we have to remember them for our time here on this earth and we do want to remember and love that they did have life and their life was precious and important."
Thomas shares pictures of baby Gracie Lynn with friends and family but has not posted them on Facebook. She says it would be heart wrenching if someone said something negative.
Channel Seven only showed pictures in the story of baby Grayson James Walker with the hat, those without it show his birth defect. You can view them here. If you'd like you can leave your comment below.
For more information on Holy Sews, click here.
To see the Walker family blog, click here.
