The British Museum’s social media accounts have been inundated with comments telling it to return a moai statue to Easter Island.
The museum currently displays two moai, taken from the Chilean territory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) by British surveyors in 1868.
But an online campaign to push for the stone monuments to be given back to the people of the volcanic island was launched in January.
People have left comments on the museum’s Instagram, YouTube and Facebook page which including: “How do you feel about displaying stolen artefacts?”.
Others have said “gorgeous, now return it” while another called people “polite, colonial thieves”.
The British Museum ended up turning off its comments on one post, saying they had done so because the post was made in collaboration with the Youth Collective, which had content which involved young people.
Multiple other posts say that comments have been “limited” but the museum told The Standard this is something they are trying to correct.
The current controversy started when Santiago-based influencer Mike Milfort encouraged his one million followers to demand the return of the statues.
Mr Milfort has spoken about the moai in multiple viral videos and generating a lot of discussion online.
Chilean president Gabriel Boric has expressed support for the return in interviews with the media but Rapa Nui’s mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa said Mr Boric “should not politicise something that is so holistically, spiritually and culturally important to us”.
Rapa Nui, which has a Polynesian identity, was annexed by Chile in 1888.
Mr Edmunds Paoa is worried the internet campaign is reducing the moai to an online meme and has been “an abuse of the situation”.
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The British Museum said: “Comments were only deactivated on one social media post. We welcome debate, but this has to be balanced against the need for safeguarding considerations, especially where young people are concerned.”
