Facebook Removes 'Lac-Megantic Train Disaster Was Hilarious' Page | HuffPost

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Facebook Removes 'Lac-Megantic Train Disaster Was Hilarious' Page

Michael Bolen— The Huffington Post Canada

Facebook

There are is bad taste and then there is revolting taste. This was a case of the latter.

A Facebook page titled "The Lac-Megantic Train Disaster Was Hilarious" was created on July 10 and quickly prompted anger.

The page featured photos of the disaster with captions like "SHE TOOK THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN GOIN' NOWHERE" and "YOU SMELL WHAT'S COOKIN? IT'S LAC-MEGANTIC."

After moderators initially declined to remove the content, Facebook pulled the page Tuesday after being contacted for comment by The Huffington Post Canada. The site would not comment on why it removed the page.

Comments posted to the page before it was pulled uniformly expressed outrage, with many encouraging fellow readers to write to Facebook.

Complaints submitted to Facebook initially yielded a response that the page "wasn't removed," according to several users. A complaint submitted by HuffPost Canada as a test received the same response.

Facebook has very specific standards about what the site will and won't remove. You can read the site's public description of its community standards here or view an infographic detailing the complaint reporting process here.

The Lac-Megantic page wasn't sexually explicit, violent, spam or hate speech (at least not under Facebook's definition which requires the speech to be directed at a race, ethnicity, religious group, gender, sexual orientation or people with a disability or disease). Complaints that labelled the site as harassment resulted in the message from Facebook that the site had not been removed.

Facebook has landed in hot water before for removing images of women who have had mastectomies while declining to remove pages devoted to pictures of scantily-clad women. Ditto with images of breastfeeding.

The site has taken down images that were not explicit in nature but that were deemed offensive to a group, such as this image of a woman's upper and lower body separated into two chunks in Photoshop. The photo was accompanied by the the caption. "Left or right? But you've got to tell us how you came to that decision."

For whatever reason, it seems Facebook decided Tuesday that the Lac-Megantic page violated its rules in some way.

The derailment of a train carrying crude oil in the small Quebec town earlier this month killed at least 47 people.

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Lac-Megantic Explosions, Fire

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Work continues at the crash site of the train derailment and fire in Lac-Megantic, Que., on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, that left 37 people confirmed dead and another 13 missing and presumed dead. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

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Work continues at the crash site of the train derailment and fire Tuesday, July 16, 2013 in Lac-Megantic, Que. that left 37 people confirmed dead and another 13 missing and presumed dead. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/POOL-Ryan Remiorz)

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Work continues at the crash site of the train derailment and fire Tuesday, July 16, 2013 in Lac-Megantic, Que. that left 37 people confirmed dead and another 13 missing and presumed dead. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

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A fireman walks through the debris as work continues at the crash site of the train derailment and fire Tuesday, July 16, 2013 in Lac-Megantic, Que. that left 37 people confirmed dead and another 13 missing and presumed dead. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

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A levelled building is seen in the foreground the day after a train derailed causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Que. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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Canadian Prime Minister Harper, right, surveys the scene Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Quebec, as firefighters continue to spray derailed tanker cars. A runaway train derailed Saturday causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil and destroyed part of the downtown area of Lac Megantic. (credit:AP Photo/THE CANADIAN PRESS, Paul Chiasson)

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Prime Minister Harper, centre, talks with firefighters Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Quebec. A runaway train derailed Saturday exploding tanker cars carrying crude oil and destroying part of the downtown area of Lac Megantic. (credit:AP Photo/THE CANADIAN PRESS, Paul Chiasson)

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Prime Minister Stepen Harperwaves to people as he visits the site Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Quebec, where a runaway train derailed Saturday. Tanker cars carrying oil exploded after the derailment and destroyed the business district in Lac Megantic. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Firefighters keep watering railway cars the day after a train derailed causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Que. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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The downtown of Lac Megantic, Que. is seen Sunday, July 7, 2013, the day after a train derailed causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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The downtown core lays in ruins as fire fighters continue to water smouldering rubble Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Quebec after a train derailed ignited tanker cars carrying crude oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

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The downtown core lays in ruins as fire fighters continue to water smoldering rubble Sunday, July 7, 2013, in Lac Megantic, Quebec, after a train derailed ignited tanker cars carrying crude oil. The runaway train derailed, causing explosions and fires that destroyed the downtown district. (credit:AP Photo/THE CANADIAN PRESS,Ryan Remiorz)

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Burnt out oil tank cars and the destroyed downtown core lays in ruins as firefighters continue to water smouldering rubble Sunday, July 7, 2013, in Lac Megantic, Quebec. A runaway train derailed igniting tanker cars carrying crude oil on Saturday. (credit:AP Photo/ THE CANADIAN PRESS,Ryan Remiorz)

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The downtown core lays in ruins as fire fighters continue to water smouldering rubble Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Quebec after a train derailed ignited tanker cars carrying crude oil. (credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

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Burnt buildings are seen following a train derailment causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Que. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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Workers inspect a railway car that was part of a convoy of railway cars carrying crude oil that derailed Saturday causing explosions Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Que. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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Workers inspect a railway car that was part of a convoy of railway cars carrying crude oil that derailed Saturday causing explosions Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac Megantic, Que. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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A fire keeps burns after railway cars that were carrying crude oil derailed in downtown Lac Megantic, Quebec, Saturday, July 6, 2013. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Firefighters douse a blaze after a freight train loaded with oil derailed in Lac Megantic in Canada's Quebec province on June 6, 2013, sparking explosions that engulfed about 30 buildings in fire. At least one person has been killed. (credit:AFP PHOTO / François Laplante-Delagrave)

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Smoke rises in the background as Quebec Premier Pauline Marois speaks to reporters after a freight train loaded with oil derailed in Lac Megantic in Canada's Quebec province on June 6, 2013, sparking explosions that engulfed about 30 buildings in fire. At least one person has been killed. (credit:AFP PHOTO / François Laplante-Delagrave)

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Residents watch rising smoke after a freight train loaded with oil derailed in Lac Megantic in Canada's Quebec province on June 6, 2013, sparking explosions that engulfed about 30 buildings in fire. At least one person has been killed. (credit:AFP PHOTO/François Laplante-Delagrave/Getty Images)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que. on Saturday, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que. on Saturday, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que. on Saturday, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que. on Saturday, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que. on Saturday, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que. on Saturday, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Local residents watch as smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que., Saturday, July 6, 2013. (credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Que, Saturday, July 6, 2013. (credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, July 6, 2013. The derailment sparked several explosions and forced the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, July 6, 2013. The derailment sparked several explosions and forced the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (credit:AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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