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Facebook denies censorship in closing of Paris user's page
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PARIS (AP) — Lawyers for Facebook Inc. denied the company engaged in censorship when it shut down the account of a French user after he posted a photograph of a famous 19th century painting of a naked woman's genitals and lower torso. Frederic Durand-Baissas, 59, a primary school teacher in Paris, has sued the powerful social network in French court, claiming Facebook violated his freedom of speech in 2011 by abruptly removing his profile. Durand-Baissas' account was suspended hours after he posted a photo of Gustave Courbet's "The Origin of the World," a painting from 1866 that depicts female genitalia, the teacher has alleged.