Instagram is trying to put a stop to pornography and harassment by banning nudity, including close-up photos of your buttocks. However, the new ban doesn’t apply to Kim Kardashian’s racy selfies, or anyone who takes a booty shot that’s not fully nude.
According to the Wall Street Journal , the folks at Instagram don’t want to limit anyone’s creativity when they use the app, they simply want to make it a respectful and safe place to post photographs. Not only is the company putting a ban on “‘close-ups of fully nude buttocks,” there are other limits now in place as far as how much of your body you can show.
Bottom line — full nudity is not allowed on Instagram.
However, a photo of Kim Kardashian’s booty is fine if it’s covered with something such as skimpy thong underwear. In addition, a picture of a woman breast feeding her baby, or a photo of “post-mastectomy scarring” are both perfectly acceptable.
“We want Instagram to continue to be an authentic and safe place for inspiration and expression… but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show genitals and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks… but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too.”
Want to post photos of nude or partially nude children? That’s not allowed, even if it’s a cute photo of your toddler fresh out of the bath. The Daily Mail states that this is yet another way that Instagram is cracking down on pornography — photos of nude children could potentially be viewed and shared by a person who doesn’t have the best intentions in mind.
“People like to share photos or videos of their children. For safety reasons, there are times when we may remove images that show nude or partially-nude children. Even when this content is shared with good intentions, it could be used by others in unanticipated ways.”
Instagram does not screen images before a user creates a post. However, they do review any photos that they receive complaints about, and remove them if they feel they violate their guidelines.
Facebook purchased the Instagram app in 2012 for $1 billion in cash and stock. Since then, the number of monthly users has grown from 30 million to a whopping 300 million. Recent changes to the app’s community guidelines are important ones, with the company trying to ward off inappropriate activity without stifling their users’ creativity.
[Images: Kim Kardashian/Instagram]