Facebook reverses decision on blocking breast cancer post

Facebook has reversed a decision which blocked the Dublin Well Woman Centre from promoting a post about breast cancer because it claimed it was overly sexual in nature.

The advert was a guide for woman on how to perform a breast check and featured three small drawings of a woman with her breasts exposed to illustrate how to carry out the check correctly.

The centre contacted the company appealing the decision but over the course of two separate posts Facebook stood its ground and said it would not allow the post to be promoted because it breached rules stating that ads cannot be “overly sexual”.

However the company launched an investigation after being contacted by The Irish Times and while it declined to comment directly on the issue, it has now reversed its stance.

It has made contact with the Well Woman Centre and explained that both the original decision to block the post and a subsequent rejection of an appeal were “mistakes”.

It has apologised to the centre which is now free to promote the ad.