Facebook’s censorship of Aboriginal bodies raises troubling ideas of ‘decency’

Facebook happily hosts Kim Kardashian's cleavage, but suspended users posting images of topless Aboriginal women for 'violating community standards'. Leigh Alexander wonders, just whose standards are we talking about?

Social technology, in the words of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, would "make the world more open and connected", and unite the international community. It promises a new, global platform for cultural storytelling - a significant opportunity to know one another better than ever before.

But major technology platforms are led by western capitalist ideals, and one major consequence of this is that not all stories are treated equally. On Facebook, stories and images of famous women's nudity are celebrated - while the cultural histories of other women around the world are erased as "inappropriate".