Instagram is notoriously a loud form of social media. It has over a billion users worldwide and allows them to selfishly broadcast the highs of a lifetime (minus the lows) and televise as much of ourselves as we like – it is no secret that Instagram feeds a culture of selfies and self-centred exploits, but despite the loudness of a social media culture based on the self, there is something quietly happening on Instagram, and its silence is deafening.
What the typical user of Instagram probably would not know is the extent to which what they see is not entirely what it seems. To put it plainly, the censorship policies that Instagram endorse as safeguarding (from what may be deemed as harmful content) appear to be crossing a boundary into content which is far from harmful, but by removing it from Instagram, is proving to be hurtful.
A pivotal example of this took place in August, when black, plus-sized model Nyome Nicholas-Williams (Instagram handle @curvynyome) noticed her content was not being circulated in the same way that it had been previously. This was catalysed when a photo of herself was deleted because Instagram deemed it ‘pornography.’ The photo in question sees her pose with her arms wrapped over her breasts, which the content moderators at Instagram interpreted as a violation of their policy. Regardless of whether an individual deems such a photo fit for social media, this case must be seen in the context that to pose in such a way is common on Instagram, it is not difficult to find an abundance of slim, white women posting content in which they pose in an identical manner, and this is exacerbated when we realise that their content – like Nyome’s – is focused on promoting self-love and body confidence among women.
Nicholas-Williams stepped forward to vocalise her claim that Instagram was censoring her content and as a result silencing her, which quickly provoked other influencers to step forward and confirm the same: that Instagram was deleting their content or failing to promote it in the same way as their slim, white counterparts. This dialogue did not go unnoticed; the hashtag #IWantToSeeNyome circulated to the extent that Instagram did in fact respond and acknowledged the way it had failed one of its users.
Unfortunately, this case was not an isolated one, with the back hand of Instagram censorship policies striking again this month. This time account @nakedgrapefruitt was falsely subjected to Instagram’s content moderation. Naked Grapefruit is a female run and independent business, focused on removing the taboo and increasing the conversation around female pleasure, via striking artwork, blog posts and marketing their own vibrator.
Their posts have been frequently removed for violating Instagram’s policy on nudity, and it is necessary to distinguish here that the violation of ‘nudity’ Instagram is referring to here is unequally shared between male and female creators: specifically, it is female nipples that Instagram users must urgently be safeguarded against. On the 5th December, just after the brand’s one-year anniversary, Naked Grapefruit found out that their account had been deleted without warning for violating Instagram’s terms of use and would be permanently deleted if the ‘issue’ were not resolved after 30 days. Like many brands and influencers such as Naked Grapefruit, Instagram is a key tool for income, and the damage this does in the weeks before Christmas is intensified for small independent businesses.
These two incidences are but a microcosm for the large-scale censorship taking place on Instagram, but they are nevertheless enough to deduce a trend that suggests Instagram has a big problem with non-conforming, loud female accounts. The case of Nyome Nicholas-Williams demonstrates a tension between what Instagram deems acceptable and plus-size women of colour who radiate self-love and acceptance – especially when they do not conform to ‘skinny’ politics and the self-hate that patriarchy rests so heavily on. Instagram’s relationship with Naked Grapefruit shows a similar side of the same coin: social media’s resistance to taboo topics like female masturbation, female body hair and female nipples. Censorship of this sort should come as no surprise when we consider why Instagram’s parent company Facebook was created: as a way for Mark Zuckerberg and his mates to rank the attractiveness of their female peers, the crème de la crème of toxic masculinity.
It is by no means surprising that Zuckerberg and co. are silently perpetuating content that feeds the (white) male gaze. One thing I have noticed on my own Instagram feed is the absence of a number of LGBTQ+ and non-white influencers and creatives that I follow and engage with. This is food for thought when we consider the scale of the problem, the extent to which algorithms influence so much of what you do and do not see when you start scrolling – it may be worth asking yourself how intersectional your Instagram feed is as of late?
While it may appear that there is lots to be miserable about, perhaps the most important thing to recognise is that this grip that Instagram and Zuckerberg have on the content we do (and do not) see is slowly but surely weakening and will continue to do so if we keep flagging up the unfairness directed at influencers and brands like @nakedgrapefruitt and @curvynyome. Specifically, the consequences they face for promoting extremely important content for young women – body confidence, self-love, intersectionality, and female masturbation to name a few.
For the time being, Instagram is here to stay – as a space for creatives as well as a source of cat memes – therefore Zuckerberg and co. must remain liable for the content they are (and are not) placing before us.