Social Media Wants To #FreeTheNipple
Controversy in the streets of NYC
Nudity on social media has been an issue since the conception of networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but the controversy has been taken to new levels this week with high profile individuals giving their opinion on the discussion.
Source: USnews.com
Scout Willis, the daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, posed topless on Twitter last week in protest against the restrictive policy on nudity that the photo-sharing service Instagram implemented.
The 22-year-old has started an online craze, as she walked through New York City with her nipples exposed. She posted the pictures online and captioned one of the photos: “Legal in NYC but not on ?Instagram” and also used the hashtag “freethenipple” beneath another picture. A bold move by the young lady, but her choice of words makes it sound like theres a captive whale named nipple somewhere in the world, and after Free Willy, this could get interesting.
Different social media networking platforms have contrasting attitudes to nudity, and Twitter for example allows such content, but here are the list of others that do not want to #FreeTheNipple, or Willy.
Instagram
Instagram has come under heavy criticism, particularly by women, as the company states that users “may not post violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content.”
Despite these in depth restrictions by Instagram, The Independent’s Lynne Enright points out that Willis “takes umbrage with the fact that Instagram seems fine with the objectification of women, allowing pictures of semi-nude women with captions like ‘big titty broads’, as long as a nipple tassel (real or digital) covers the areola.”
Both sides of the argument contradict themselves to a degree, with the obvious one being Instagram due to their seemingly strict rules on nudity, then allowing ‘big titty broads’ to be prominent on the site. From the point of view that the site objects women, then surely there is no bigger objectification of the human body than to display it on a website where millions of people gaze everyday.
Source: newsreach.co.uk
Facebook has struggled to specifically specify what to ban, and some moderators had previously been told to ban images of breastfeeding if the nipples were exposed. Again, it is not hard to find nudity on Facebook, and it is a regular sight on many news feeds.
Twitter
Twitter is the most liberal social networking platform when it comes to nudity, and the site instructs: “You may not use obscene or pornographic images in either your profile photo, header photo, or user background,” but the company does allow users to post pornographic content on their profiles.
Out of the three, Twitter is all for the exposed nipple, and more, whilst Instagram and Facebook take a hardline stance on the issue. Obviously this argument can never be won, as for every nipple exposed, there will be a person complaining about the explicit nature of the content.
Alex is an English Literature and Sociology undergraduate whose love for written word has led him to write about some obscure topics in his time. Currently a content writer at Social Media Frontiers, be sure to follow him @AlexSatSMF.
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Social Media Wants To #FreeTheNipple
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