In 2009, Santa Claus created a viral painting of a North Carolina artist holding baby Jesus on his knees, claiming that for the second time in two years, the painting was temporarily censored by Facebook.
Gay Francis Willard said of the painting’s recent alleged censorship that Facebook was flagging him for “violent content.”
As we approach #Christmas, This # STEM The network will wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Your gift can be found # CompleteNo blessings # Hope And #Piece Tenu # Love Christmas and always. (Artist: Gay Francis Willard) # Catholicized # Catholic School # Acting pic.twitter.com/9jigrSJad6
– Adla Stem Network School (@STEMschoolsLA) December 21, 2018
Willard told Fox 8 earlier this month that she had always wanted to be an artist, recalling, “I was almost a year old and my mother told me I was working on drawing on the wall. I will draw a small line and a circle. “I want it to have an emotional impact,” she said, focusing on pictures throughout her career.
She said of her 2009 painting, “When I did that one, I didn’t really think about what else I would think because I did it for myself.… I intended to cross-paint in this particular painting, but I did it. Done in the shape of a star, because I think the message of the cross and the cross is centered on the Christmas story.… When I went back to the room where he was sitting on the horse, I immediately saw another cross that I had no intention of getting there, and Is located at the feet of Jesus. “
“Someone posted it, and you know how these things go, it just went viral and went everywhere,” she recalled. “This painting has been around the world. I hear from people all over the world. ”
But in 2018, Willard’s son emailed him that someone had noticed that the painting was allegedly censored by Facebook. “As soon as I heard it from them, I started hearing it from others who shared it and said they weren’t able to share it, it would be blocked,” she said. He said that the next day Facebook published this post and asked him to guess that many people would have complained.
Snapsp confirmed the claim by checking the facts that Facebook would soon ‘lane a religious image with a screen warning of violent or graphic content,’ but noted that “the same image has been freely seen on Facebook for years, it has not been deleted or blocked. Users will no longer be able to see it, and the warning screen will be removed soon. “
Willard told FOX8 that someone told him that the painting had recently been censored based on violent content. He said, “It happened again, well it was two years and one day, it happened again. And they blocked it for violent stuff. That’s what he said. … Either Santa Claus is violent, or Baby Jesus is violent, or the two are together. “
“Willard adds that she spoke to someone who was able to contact Facebook, where a representative told her the picture was blocked due to the social media company’s algorithms,” Fox 8 reported.
It is not clear if the image was actually “blocked” or again lacked “violent content” warning, as it was reported in 2018.
Willard said, “I don’t know how many people’s posts seem to block him; It’s more than one because a lot of people say “I tried to share this and see what happened. … This painting has been all over the world… I am hearing from people all over the world. ”
Asked how much she saw “all the stuff” on Facebook that she thinks would be classified as violent, Willard laughed, “Now that’s the full question.” Asked what word he would use to classify his painting as “violence,” Willard simply said, “I would classify it as worship.”
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