An exercise-loving mother-of-three claims she was blocked from Facebook after launching a tirade against a group of plus-size women who posed in lingerie to promote body confidence.
Maria Kang, 32, from California, wrote on the site last Friday that she was ‘annoyed’ by ‘news stories about how overweight, nearly obese women should be proud of their bodies’ – referring directly to a story by MailOnline highlighting a ‘selfie’ photo campaign launched by Curvy Girl Lingerie.
The post, which reportedly received thousands of ‘Likes’ from her 230,000 followers, was deemed a ‘hate speech’ by Facebook Ms Kang says, and she was locked out of her account as a result.
Her access to the social network was restored after two days, but her post was not.
Miss Kang – who was accused of ‘fat shaming’ when she posted a portrait of herself in workout gear online last month along with the caption ‘what’s your excuse?’ – said she did not intend to upset people and was merely ‘telling the truth.’
‘We need to change this strange mentality we are breeding in the U.S. and start celebrating people who are a result of hard work, dedication and discipline’
She says the online campaign launched by Chrystal Bougon, the owner of California plus-size shop Curvy Girl Lingerie, ‘normalizes being unhealthy.’
However, Ms Bougon says her intention is show that ‘women with rolls, bumps [and] lumps . . . can be stunning and beautiful’ too.
Unenthused by the photo project, Ms Kang continued: ‘We need to change this strange mentality we are breeding in the U.S. and start celebrating people who are a result of hard work, dedication and discipline.
‘I’m not bashing those who are proud and overweight, I am empowering those who are proud and healthy to come out and be the real role models in our society.’
Ms Kang said that she received an email from Facebook stating that her post referencing the Curvy Girl Lingerie campaign violated community standards.
The message read: ‘Facebook does not permit hate speech, but distinguishes between serious and humorous speech.
‘As a former obese woman I am behind you speaking the truth 100%. When you are overweight you really don’t love yourself’
‘While we encourage you to challenge ideas, institutions, events, and practices, we do not permit individuals or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition.’
The tech giant later admitted that the content had been ‘mistakenly removed’ after another user reported it.
A spokesperson said in a statement to News10.com: ‘When we realized the error we corrected it immediately, and restored full access to Ms Kang. We apologize for the inconvenience.’
She got her access back but the post was removed. Do you think her comments were hateful or coming from a genuinely concerned place?
Hit the flip to read the post that was deleted.
