Facebook Bans Irish Town Effin for Being 'Offensive'

Facebook has been accused of refusing to recognise people from a certain town in Country Limerick, Ireland, because it views the town's name as inappropriate.

One Effin native, Ann Marie Kennedy, has started an online campaign to get her hometown recognised by the social networking site, reports the BBC.

"I was born and raised in Effin and my family come from here," she said.

"I would like to be able to put Effin on my profile page and so would many other Effin people around the world too sat that they are from Effin, County Limerick, but it won't recognise that.

"It just won't let me add it. It just keeps giving suggestions such as Effingham, Illinois; Effingham, New Hampshire," she added.

Effin Brilliant! Rudest British Place Names

The 47-year old who works at the department of nursing and midwifery at the Univerisyt of Limerick said her attempts to set up a Facebook page called "Please get my hometown of Effin recognised" were also unsuccessful.

"It came up with an error message that it was 'offensive'," she said.

She has appealed to the social networking site, which has not yet responded to her request.

"I'm a proud Effin woman and I always will be an Effin woman," she said.

"We're used to [the name]," she added, saying that it "originated from a saint" and that although she recognised the pun as funny, it isn't "as funny as other people find it."

Britain's rich linguistic heritage means that there are many town and place names that may seem rude or offensive. Highlights include Cocks in Cornwall, Bell End in Worcestershire and Shitterton in Dorset.

Facebook is well known for monitoring the content posted by its users, and often deletes posts, comments or photos it deems inappropriate. A Facebook page calling for the killing of nude Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda ElMahdy was removed due to its inappropriate content.