Facebook has reversed a ban on the cover art for Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy album, promising to reinstate previously removed posts.

"As our community standards explain, we don’t allow nude images of children on Facebook," a spokesperson for the company told UCR. "But we know this a culturally significant image. Therefore, we’re restoring the posts we removed.”

In the coming days, the social-media giant will adjust its review mechanisms to permit sharing of this cover by all users. Facebook also plans to allow similar content on a case-by-case basis that might otherwise violate their standards if it is deemed newsworthy, significant or important to the public interest.

The Grammy-nominated artwork, taken by Hipgnosis' Aubrey Powell, is actually a collage of nude images from a '70s-era shoot featuring Stefan and Samantha Gates, a pair of child models. Facebook confirmed a ban earlier today, informing UCR via a take-down notice that "the content will likely be removed in the next couple hours for policy reasons."

Facebook added that "if the content is still live in 48 hours, it will automatically be deleted. Repeated violations may impact the page's ability to monetize." UCR voluntarily deleted the post, but it had already collected nearly 3,000 responses and almost 500 comments.

Houses of the Holy was nominated for a best album-package Grammy in 1974, losing to the cover of the Who's movie soundtrack for Tommy, which was created by Tom Wilkes and Craig Braun.

Over the years, the art from Led Zeppelin's 10-times platinum-selling fifth studio project has been used as a feature photo with more than 30 UCR stories. This was the first time Facebook has intervened.
 
 

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