[eCa]

> If you take the liberty to challenge Facebook’s rules, you will be met – as we have seen – with censorship.

You are in Marks living room. He has asked you not to bring certain kinds of photos to his place. You did anyway so he took the photo from you. You brought another copy the next time. Now he is getting angry with you.

Maybe you should meet at your place in the future? Or maybe you shouldn't be friends with Mark at all.

[yazaddaruvala]

I hate physical metaphors for digital things. They always seem so succinct, and without possible counter argument.

You're absolutely right that if this happened in someone's living room, their rules should apply.

However, there are 1.3 billion people in "Mark's living room". Is it still his?

[palerdot]

Unfortunately it is still his. When people sign up, there is a line hidden somewhere that says "This is my living room and you agree you stay here on the condition that you will agree to whatever I might ask you in future".

In a way, some physical metaphor like this one drives the point home well. Though Mark might not say bluntly that "You are in my living room, just adhere to what I order you", he is actually saying something like "I'm not permitting this in my living room because it is an inconvenience to other people".

The ugly truth is 1.3 billion people are guests and no matter how big they are they have to agree with the host.

[pwinnski]

It seems that the analogy breaks down badly when the "private property" is treated 99.9% of the time as a public property, and the entire world is invited (except for those with important political messages that don't go well with advertising).

I'm not saying Facebook isn't Mark's to do with as he pleases, but... something isn't right here.

[exodust]

Don't confuse Facebook with the Internet. One has terms and conditions and policies and moderators and shateholders, the other does not.

If our governing authorities took measures to pull such photos from the web, then we'd have a problem worth protesting. If Facebook.com pulls the photo and points to its policies as the reason... then simply publish the photo elsewhere.