• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Meta told to 'free the nipple' on Facebook and Instagram and lift ban on bare breasts

Home> News

Updated 10:29 19 Jan 2023 GMTPublished 07:39 19 Jan 2023 GMT

Meta told to 'free the nipple' on Facebook and Instagram and lift ban on bare breasts

The social media platform has been told to make a change to its censoring rules

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle

Meta has been told to clarify their policies surrounding nudity on their social media platforms.

The recommendation was made by Meta's Oversight Board which noted that certain censorship makes for 'greater barriers to expression for women, trans, and gender non-binary people on its platforms'.

While recommendations from the Oversight Board are not binding, Meta is required to issue a public response and follow-on action to the Board's policy advice.

Advert

The oversight board released a statement titled 'Oversight Board overturns Meta's original decisions in the "Gender identity and nudity"' cases on Tuesday (January 17).

Reuters

The decision came about after one account, ran by a trans and non-binary couple, posted two photos on Instagram in 2021 and in 2022.

The photos in question 'feature images of the couple bare-chested with the nipples covered' with a caption discussing transgender healthcare and a 'fundraiser link' to pay for one of the couple's top surgery.

Advert

After several alerts to the post and reports by Instagram users, Meta reviewed the content in line with their Community Standards and subsequently removed both posts for 'violating the Sexual Solicitation Community Standard'.

In their statement, the board announced that they'd 'overturned Meta’s original decisions to remove two Instagram posts depicting transgender and non-binary people with bare chests'.

Following this, the couple appealed to Meta and then took it up with the Oversight Board, who ultimately agreed that they had wrongly removed the posts and eventually restored them.

A couple had posted two pictures on Instagram in 2021 and 2022.
Alamy

Advert

A key finding from the incident was that the Oversight Board declared that 'removing these posts is not in line with Meta’s Community Standards, values or human rights responsibilities'.

They also addressed the 'confusing' rules around nipple censorship on the social media platforms, noting: "This creates confusion for users and moderators and, as Meta has recognised, leads to content being wrongly removed."

Explaining the behind-the-scenes of their policy, the board also explained that within this particular case - the post was 'sent for human review by an automated system trained to enforce the Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity Community Standard'.

This standard can often 'prohibit images containing female nipples other than in specified circumstances, such as breastfeeding and gender confirmation surgery'.

Advert

However, the Oversight Board admitted that the process is 'not practical' and revolves around 'subjective assessments'.

The rules were considered 'confusing' when applied to transgender and non-binary people.
Cum Okolo / Alamy Stock Photo

They said: "This policy is based on a binary view of gender and a distinction between male and female bodies.

"Such an approach makes it unclear how the rules apply to intersex, non-binary and transgender people, and requires reviewers to make rapid and subjective assessments of sex and gender, which is not practical when moderating content at scale."

Advert

It continued: "The lack of clarity inherent in this policy creates uncertainty for users and reviewers, and makes it unworkable in practice."

While the Oversight Board overturned the original decision to remove the posts, they also recommended that the company 'define clear, objective, rights-respecting criteria' so that everyone is treated in a 'manner consistent with international human rights standard'.

A Meta spokesperson told UNILAD: ""We welcome the board’s decision in this case. We had reinstated this content prior to the decision, recognizing that it should not have been taken down. We are constantly evaluating our policies to help make our platforms safer for everyone. We know more can be done to support the LGBTQ+ community, and that means working with experts and LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations on a range of issues and product improvements.”

Featured Image Credit: @thefutureisfeminism_/Instagram/REUTERS/Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: News, Facebook, Instagram

Rhiannon Ingle
Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 6 hours ago

    Donald Trump issues surprising statement after Iran strikes US air base

    The president has issued a statement after Iran fired missiles at US air bases in Qatar and Iraq

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    'Lion whisperer' left fighting for his life after attack from same cat that killed his colleague last year

    Oleg Zubkov, the owner of the park, is said to be in a critical condition in hospital

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Single mother, 48, diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's disease reveals first symptoms she noticed

    Rebecca Luna has also launched a fundraiser, knowing her condition will worsen

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Shocking reason why Ben Affleck is banned from playing Blackjack at certain casinos

    It all stems back to an incident in 2014

    Film & TV
  • Facebook and Instagram have just gone down for everyone all over the world
  • Woman searching for birth parents shocked to discover dad was her friend on Facebook
  • Why Mark Zuckerberg could be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp
  • Man stole $100 million from Facebook and Google just by sending them random bills