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Why this entire town has been banned from Facebook

Residents of a town in France were left devastated after their official Facebook page was banned from the platform.

The Facebook page for the French town of Bitche was taken down last month for an apparent violation of community guidelines, according to Metro.

Bitche's 5000 locals clung to their community spirit in a backup page called Mairie 57230 - the name for town hall and the town's postcode.

Facebook removed the Ville de Bitche page, causing upset to thousands. Source: Getty Images
Facebook removed the Ville de Bitche page, causing upset to thousands. Source: Getty Images

Mayor Benoît Kieffer was unimpressed by the conundrum, which he considered to be "censorship".

"At first, you wonder, was there a technical problem? However, with the length of time, it can be considered a real censorship," he told CNN.

Bitche is an eastern area of France called Pays de Bitche, which translates to Bitch country.

Surrounding towns were reportedly placed into high alert as a result and considered changing their Facebook page names to avoid being removed as well.

The Ville de Bitche page was restored after almost a month. Source: Facebook
The Ville de Bitche page was restored after almost a month. Source: Facebook

French towns of Arse Stream (Ruisseau de l'Arse), Anus, Condom and Pussy have also reportedly been shaking in their boots over a potential banning from the social media platform.

The town of Pussy is close to the Italian border and Anus is in the Burgundy region of France.

Crisis was averted after almost a month when the Facebook page for Bitche was restored this week.

Facebook reportedly claimed the page was "removed in error".

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