A photo of a 'jokey' mug posted on Facebook by a Nottingham company led to a Facebook ban - for inciting violence. Dukki, a small online firm selling souvenirs and gifts featuring local dialect and comic slogans, branded the temporary ban "ridiculous" and said it was harmful to the business.
The £10 mug says: "Some people just need a high five" and in smaller letters underneath it adds: "In the face with a chair." Dukki's co-owner Heidi Hargreaves said there was no harm in the product.
She was so infuriated after being blocked in the week leading up to Mother's Day - one of the busiest times of the year - she recorded a video on Instagram to have a "rant".
Keep up to date with all the latest food and drink news by signing up here
She told followers: "It is obviously a joke, quite funny I think. We sell a lot of them, it's a popular product. It was a Facebook post that said 'small businesses, let's get you seen - comment with ten images below'. I thought times are hard, it's difficult to get stuff seen on social media at the moment let's give a go, so I posted some pictures of our products, one of which was the mug and it's been flagged up for breaching Facebook's community guidelines for inciting violence and the use of weapons and guns
"Clearly it's not inciting violence. It's just a funny mug and it's just a small business trying to earn a living in this cost of living crisis we're in. I wish I'd never commented on the post now because I can't post anything new on Facebook for god knows how long.
"I've appealed it because it's ridiculous. You won't see any new content from us on Facebook for the next few days."
Ms Hargreaves and partner Ian Jones used to have a shop in St James's Street, in Nottingham city centre, but since the pandemic have run the business from their home in Chilwell.
Ms Hargreaves added: "I'm so annoyed that they can do this to a small business for posting a picture of a mug but then they will let videos of people being beheaded and violent content towards minors get through. I give up"
She told Nottinghamshire Live afterwards: "Unfortunately, Facebook is a necessary evil when running a business, because 87 percent of our online sales come through Facebook.
"This hasn't just affected my business page, I can't use my personal messenger account to keep in touch with my family either because I'm linked to my business page as an admin. I just wish Facebook would put a stop to actual violence and misogyny on Facebook, instead of flagging up comments that don't breach community guidelines at all."
A spokeswoman for Facebook said: "We’ve looked into the issue and can confirm that the post was removed by mistake, and has now been restored. The user should now be able to access their account again."
However, as of last night, Ms Hargreaves said she still wasn't able to access the account.
READ NEXT:
