Facebook Censorship: What Does it Mean for Email?

Facebook's recent dust-up with Lamebook has caused quite a stir. Lamebook is a website built on Facebook users' fails -- for example, a typo that accidentally makes a status inappropriate. Screenshots of Facebook statuses and picture captions dominate Lamebook's site, and, in turn, users often post the funniest ones back to Facebook.

That is, until Facebook began censoring and banning anything mentioning Lamebook, even combinations like "lame + book DOT com." What's particularly disturbing is that even if someone were simply trying to start a dialogue about the situation ("Hey guys, what do you think about the Facebook/Lamebook debate?"), they weren't allowed to post their status.

Although with the publicity Facebook has now reversed this policy, it's not the first time Facebook has censored its users. Anecdotal evidence points to statuses that have been removed without warning due to content that Facebook deemed inappropriate, such as a curse word. Their censorship also extends to businesses, particularly those of an adult nature, even if they are entirely appropriate on the Facebook page and require an 18+ confirmation.

Beyond the obvious censorship issues, this is particularly concerning considering Facebook's plan to add email (or not-email as the case may be). Commenters on the TechCrunch post have pointed out, "Could you imagine if Gmail stopped me from sending an email with a link?" Or a curse word?

What do you think about Facebook's censorship? Will it stop you from trying their messaging system? Let us know in the comments below.