INSTAGRAM now allows racy snaps of women cupping their boobs on its platform following an online campaign spearheaded by plus-size model Nyome Nicholas-Williams.
Images of somebody “holding their breasts” are now be permitted on the photo-sharing app as part of changes to Instagram’s nudity policy announced last week.
Nyome, from London, says she launched her campaign after she and other curvy black models were “censored” by Instagram.
The US company repeatedly took down Nyome’s raunchy snaps as they were deemed “pornographic” by its algorithms. Instagram also threatened to ban her account for breaking its nudity guidelines.
Nyome’s campaign to lift the block was launched in August with the hashtag #IWantToSeeNyome.
She said the site did not take action against models Emily Ratajkowski and Kylie Jenner over similar near-nude pics, due to “racial bias”.
To date, around 1,500 Instagram posts have featured the hashtag, many accompanied by photos of naked women covering or squeezing their breasts.
Working with photographer Alex Cameron and feminist campaigner Gina Martin, Nyome shed light on the bias that plus-sized black women face on the platform.
“Millions of pictures of very naked, skinny white women can be found on Instagram every day,” Nyome, 28, told The Guardian earlier this year.
“But a fat black woman celebrating her body is banned? It was shocking to me. I feel like I’m being silenced.”
Last Monday, Facebook, which owns Instagram, announced that it had changed its nudity guidelines in response to Nyome’s campaign.
Both Facebook and Instagram would allow photos of women “simply hugging, cupping or holding their breasts” from October 28, Facebook said.
The company conceded that it had incorrectly applied its rules on “breast squeezing” to Nyome’s posts, and said it was updating its policy “to ensure all body types are treated fairly”.
Kira Wong O’Connor, head of policy at Instagram, said: “We know people feel more empowered to express themselves and create communities of support – like the body positivity community – if they feel that their bodies and images are accepted.
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“We are grateful to Nyome for speaking openly and honestly about her experiences and hope this policy change will help more people to confidently express themselves.
“It may take some time to ensure we’re correctly enforcing these new updates but we’re committed to getting this right.”
Nyome said: “I want to ensure that we are being respected and allowed to use spaces like Instagram, as many other creators do, without the worry of being censored and silenced.
“This is a huge step and I am glad a dialogue has now been opened into changes that can be made when women work together and use their platforms to make change.”
Instagram – the key facts
Here’s what you need to know…
- Instagram is a social network for sharing photos and videos
- It was created back in October 2010 as an iPhone-exclusive app
- A separate version for Android devices was released 18 months later
- The app rose to popularity thanks to its filters system, which lets you quickly edit your photos with cool effects
- When it first launched, users could only post square 1:1 ratio images, but that rule was changed in 2015
- In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1billion in cash and stock
- In 2018, some analysts believe the app is worth closer to $100billion
- In October 2015, Instagram confirmed that more than 40billion photos had been uploaded to the app
- And in 2018, Instagram revealed that more than a billion people were using the app every month
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In other news, Facebook has been branded a “danger to public health” as a shock report reveals staggering failure to crack down on fake news.
Facebook’s messenger has started to merge with Instagram chat.
And, Instagram was caught keeping deleted photos and messages on its systems for more than a year after deletion.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
