After public outcry, Facebook plans to review its process
Aftenposten's editor in chief Espen Egil Hansen poses with the day's edition featuring the iconic picture from the Vietnam War. ENLARGE
Aftenposten's editor in chief Espen Egil Hansen poses with the day's edition featuring the iconic picture from the Vietnam War. Photo: Eric johansen/European Pressphoto Agency
By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland in Oslo and
Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco
Updated Sept. 9, 2016 3:07 p.m. ET
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Facebook Inc. reversed a decision to delete posts containing a famous Vietnam War photo of a girl fleeing napalm bombs after the move drew rebuke from Norway’s prime minister and the nation’s largest newspaper. The flare-up highlighted Facebook’s powerful role as a host for news—even though it says it isn’t a media company.

In a letter on its front page, Norwegian daily Aftenposten lashed out at Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg for “limiting freedom” after the social network removed the image of the naked girl from the newspaper’s profile page earlier this week, citing its policy against showing nudity.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg weighed in, posting on her Facebook page, “Facebook gets it wrong when they censor such images.” She added: “I say no to this type of censorship.”

Hours later, Ms. Solberg’s post—which included the image—disappeared from her account.

After the public outcry, Facebook said Friday it would restore the image.

“An image of a naked child would normally be presumed to violate our community standards, and in some countries might even qualify as child pornography,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. “In this case, we recognize the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time.”

Facebook added that it will adjust its review process, which relies on both software and human moderators, so sharing of the photo would be allowed, though it would take a few days for it to come into effect. It also said it would discuss the issue with publishers.