Instagram Not Into ‘Hosting Porn’, But Floated Idea of More Nudity-Friendly Version

Instagram’s anti-nudity policy and the backlash toward it have been well-documented. But now it appears that maybe, just maybe, the company has thought about rethinking that? Probably not – fo...
Instagram Not Into ‘Hosting Porn’, But Floated Idea of More Nudity-Friendly Version
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Instagram’s anti-nudity policy and the backlash toward it have been well-documented. But now it appears that maybe, just maybe, the company has thought about rethinking that?

    Probably not – for plenty of reasons that mostly deal with advertising and its parent company Facebook. But according to CEO Kevin Systrom, Instagram has actuall floated the idea of an “R-Rated” version.

    Via Mashable:

    “There have been discussions,” he said, noting that it becomes a slippery slope about “who decides what’s R-rated.”

    “We’re not in the business of hosting porn,” he added. “We focus on people being able to express themselves in beautiful ways.”

    Systrom also said that nudity isn’t banned on Instagram – “just to be clear”.

    Of course, that’s misleading at best.

    Here’s Instagram’s word-for-word nudity policy:

    “We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too.”

    Instagram bans every single type of nudity, save a few very specific cases where it’s ok. Real nudity is only ok if it’s nipples, not genitals or butts, and only if those nipples are male or female and attached to a baby. Oh, and you can post pictures of statues. How generous.

    So really, nudity is banned on Instagram. The company has every right to do so, but to say it’s not is disingenuous.

    Another disingenuous thing that Instagram has said about nudity recently? That its policy is Apple’s fault.

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