About

Suicide Flower refers to a piece of art depicting a white flower that was censored by Facebook in early July 2020. Online, it was used by adding some controversial catchphrases on it.

Origin

The image is by Instagram designer Oliviaherrickdesign. On October 3rd, 2019, Facebook^[1] page "REN" uploaded an image of a white flower with the caption "What is yours will find you." The post only received 2 likes and 1 share (shown below).

Some have speculated the image is a Cerbera Odollam. According to The Washington Post,^[4] the Cerbera Odollam is also known as "The Suicide Tree." The fruit, flower, and seeds of the plant are highly toxic, and has been used by some to commit suicide.

In June of 2020, it was reposted by Facebook page "Heliantus." The picture was flagged by Facebook "violent content" and was subsequently deleted.

Spread

Over the following days, the photo began to spread as users trolled Facebook's censorship algorithm. For example on July 1st 2020, Facebook^[2] user Jefferson Barriga uploaded the image by changing the caption "Filipinos". The post received 80 reactions and 115 shares (shown below). On the same day, Facebook^[3] user Firmansto uploaded an edited version of the image by adding more filters to avoiding the censor.

An inquiry about the censoring was made on /r/OutOfTheLoop^[5] on July 1st, 2020. There, users pointed to the image's creator Olivia Herrick, who stated that she is filing a copyright report to have the image taken down from Facebook. She also stated the flower in question was a white periwinkle.^[6]

Search Interest

External References