Facebook slammed for removing a photo of a severely burned firefighter who lost his ears hair and eyebrows in explosion
Ex-firefighter Lasse Gustavson was left without ears, hair and eyebrows after putting his life at risk for others in 1981
FACEBOOK has been forced to apologise after removing a photo of a hero former firefighter who was badly burned - TWICE.
The social networking site repeatedly censored a photo of Lasse Gustavson, from Sweden, - who lost his ears, hair and eyebrows in a gas explosion 35 years ago.
His pal Bjorn Lindeblad, posted the photo of the now 60-year-old to wish him a happy birthday, but was gobsmacked when Facebook removed it.
But when Mr Lindeblad re-posted the image, Facebook removed it again.
In response, Mr Lindeblad hit back by posting the same picture for the third time urging the public to share the picture in protest of the company's "disgusting policy" on images on burns victims.
His post, which has been shared more than 30,000 times, translated: "Do you want to help me to speak out against a disgusting Facebook policy?
"Then please share and spread this photo of one of the most beautiful souls I know. I'm now posting it on Facebook for the third time within 36 hours.
"Facebook has removed the photo twice already, with no explanation whatsoever. And then they expelled me from my Facebook account.
"At first, I was flabbergasted. Then several burn victims contacted me and explained that photos of burn victims are often classified in the same category as sexist and racist photos on Facebook.
"Oh dear. So let's let Facebook know how we feel about this policy by spreading this photo far and wide."
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Facebook has since apologised to both Mr Gustavson and Mr Lindeblad, saying: "A member of our team accidentally removed something you posted on Facebook.
"This was a mistake, and we sincerely apologise for this error. We’ve reinstated the content, and you should now be able to see it."
Burn survivor Mr Gustavson was only 24 years old when he was caught up in a huge explosion at an oil depot in Gothenburg in 1981.
He was left disfigured after the incident and spent two months in a coma in hospital.
Since then, he has rebuilt his life and works as a motivational speaker.
Asked if the Facebook saga ruined his birthday, Mr Gustavson told the Telegraph: “When I was 24, I probably would have felt offended and upset that pictures of me were considered wrong and unpleasant.
“It was a very volatile and sensitive time... but now I have lived so long with my burns.”
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