A fitness guru who sparked a media firestorm weeks ago for posing with her toned abs and three young kids in a pro-exercise photo with the caption, “what’s your excuse?” has now been booted from Facebook for making comments about the growing acceptance of fat — comments deemed “hate speech” by the social media site.
Maria Kang, a physically fit mother who posed in October for photo in active wear with her three children, then ages 3, 2 and 8 months, recently saw an article in The Daily Mail that included pictures of obese women in lingerie, and took to Facebook to express her frustration with the growing acceptance of unhealthy habits, Fox News reported.
“The popular and unrelenting support received to those who are borderline obese (not just 30 to 40 lbs. overweight) frustrates me as a fitness advocate who intimately understands how poor health negatively effects a family, a community and a nation,” she wrote, the local News 10 reported.
The post went viral, Ms. Kang said, But within three hours, Facebook removed it and suspended her account. Why? The post was considered “hate speech,” she said in the report.
Facebook soon after restored her account and apologized, Fox News said,
The company’s excuse: “A user reported content on her page and it was mistakenly removed by Facebook. When we realized the error we corrected it immediately, and restored full access to Ms. Kang. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Ms. Kang returned to her reinstated Facebook page with this message: “Sorry but not sorry.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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