Facebook has reversed its decision to remove an iconic 1972 image of a naked nine-year-old Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack during the Vietnam War.

The move comes after an attack from the Norwegian prime minister, who said the photo “shaped world history.”

The Pulitzer prize-winning photograph, taken by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, was briefly removed this week after Facebook said the image violated its policies on displaying nudity.

“In this case, we recognise the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time,” the company said in a statement.

“Because of its status as an iconic image of historical importance, the value of permitting sharing outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal, so we have decided to reinstate the image on Facebook where we are aware it has been removed.”

– TiVi Tuan-san