Couple sanction prompts committee to ask Instagram to review nudity policy

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A couple consisting of a trans man and a non-binary person posted on a shared Instagram account two photos with nipples showing, one in 2020, the other in 2021. Both were removed by the social network, labeled as explicit content. On Tuesday (17), the Meta Oversight Committee overturned this censorship.

The independent body has the function of ultimately deciding on the publication of content on Facebook and Instagram. The decision recommended that big tech review its policy on nudity and sexual activity to respect human rights and avoid gender discrimination.

Meta has 60 days to decide whether to comply with the council’s guidelines. If he accepts, he may have to overthrow the censorship of female nipples on Instagram, the target of protest on social networks.

The Oversight Committee states in the decision that the ban on images showing female nipples is ambiguous. Today, breasts can only be depicted on Instagram and Facebook to represent breastfeeding and gender-affirming surgery.

“This approach makes it confusing how the rule applies to intersex, non-binary and transgender people, and requires content reviewers to quickly make subjective judgments about sex and gender, which is impractical when doing moderation at scale.”

The committee is unclear whether it recommends overturning the ban on female nipples. He states, however, that the adult nudity policy creates barriers to the expression of women, including cisgender women.

The decision circulated the hashtag #freethenipple — free the nipples, in free translation. The watchword is used by women to claim the right to post photos on Instagram and Facebook with their torso naked, as men can.

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