As Facebook cracks down on hate speech, it's also re-evaluating another policy: Nipples
The first time Savannah Spirit remembers Facebook censoring her work takes her back to 2011.
She was curating a show of erotic art in New York and posted a promotional image to Facebook. The social network promptly took it down, and she was prevented from posting anything else for 10 days.
In the coming years, Spirit, like many other artists, would move to Instagram, where her edgier art — usually with some form of nudity — would often run afoul of the company’s policies and be removed. Complaints and protests from artists and arts organizations in real life and on social media, including at least one that went viral , made little progress.
“I started to decide that it just comes with the territory,” Spirit said of Facebook’s bans.
But arts organizations kept at it. In early June, 125 people protested in the nude outside the New York City headquarters of Facebook and Instagram, covering themselves with stickers of photographed male nipples in protest of the long-argued double standard that only female nipples are against the company’s policies.
The artists’ action speaks to just how important the platforms, especially Instagram, have become to the arts now that Tumblr — once a haven for artists — does not allow any adult content .
“Instagram has been so important for artists, especially those who don’t necessarily have a regular venue for their work,” said Svetlana Mintcheva, director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), an alliance of more than 50 nonprofits. “But they develop huge audiences on Instagram, and photographic artists more so than others.”
The pressure campaign worked. Facebook said it would organize a group of artists, educators and activists to talk about its policies. It’s a move that is mirrored in the social network’s broader re-evaluation of its content policies as well as its move to find people outside its corporate borders to help rewrite its rules.
It’s a start, but the arts community is not declaring victory just yet.
“We don’t just want to talk,” Svetlana said. “We’d like to see some action, too.”
Ruchika Budhraja, a spokesperson for Facebook, said the company was committed to meeting with artists, the NCAC and other stakeholders. “It’s important for us to hear directly from different communities who use Facebook and Instagram,” she said.
Thousands of people pose in the nude for an installation by photographer Spencer Tunick, on May 6, 2007 at the Zocalo square in Mexico City. Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP - Getty Images fileFacebook’s challenges over where to draw the line with nudity in some ways pre-date the now-prominent debate over its role in spreading misinformation and hate speech, underscoring how the company’s rules have shifted drastically, often in one direction and then the other, during its meteoric rise.
While Facebook banned pornography early on, its efforts to restrict nudity extended to pictures of breastfeeding , a famous French painting of a nude woman and even a New Yorker cartoon . Though the stakes were lower than years later when the company needed to confront issues like fake news and coordinated foreign manipulation campaigns, many activists took the issue no less seriously.
The tenacity of the artist community, even years ago, points to just how central both Facebook and Instagram have become to the daily lives of billions of people as well as to the cultures they participate in. And since Facebook would often delete entire accounts along with their work, artists could spend years building up followings only to see them disappear.
“It takes years to build up a base of followers, so this is no small deal for artists working with the body,” said Spencer Tunick, an artist known for his use of nudity — particularly groups of naked people — who helped organize the protest in June. “It’s a major issue as we see it now.”
Tunick credited artist Micol Hebron with being the first person to digitize the male nipple in 2014 and she encouraged the public to use it to fight censorship on social media. He stressed that he understands why Facebook needs to draw lines, but that there are ways for the company to embrace experimental art while protecting younger users.
Facebook has shown some flexibility. Gabriella Mas Bell, a lawyer with the law firm Polsinelli who has written about Facebook’s censorship of artistic nudity, said that she would have to constantly update her work because the company’s terms of service frequently changed.
“I was having to go back and change the language in my article, so you could tell that they were really trying to address it,” Bell said. “So I’m not actually that surprised they’re trying to find a better solution as they’re cracking down on things like hate speech and the abusive language.”
For now, however, artists still have to be careful. Spirit said she recently had four pictures deleted from Instagram and knows other artists who were recently banned from the platform for 24 hours for posting some of Tunick’s images.
But she said she’s hopeful that Facebook could finally make changes. All it took was a few dozen nude people outside one of their offices.
“We got their attention,” she said.
I have gotten to know first hand the fickle finger of facebook when it comes to what they will or will not allow. It is hard to keep up with the changes on the platform for almost any publication, and now even artists are feeling left in the cold.
It's a brave new world out there, and most of us are just beginning to get our heads wrapped around it.
How 'bout you?
I use Facebook very little because I don't enjoy the dramatic pissing matches that happen there by the hour, and I am not trusting of people who sell my information. I'll scroll though my feed a few times a week and tell people Happy birthday or Happy anniversary occasionally but I don't post personal information there.
I tend to do the same thing. I will post videos of cute animals, or some pics of big events so that my family in England can keep in touch. But let's face it, I have a pretty big footprint on the internet after 8 years of doing this.
from day one I knew what facebook was up to, so I never joined and never will.
the elite thinking they can control peoples thoughts and opinions with technology?
stupid and priceless at the same time.
every time someone gets censored in this country, another rightwinger is born,
the tech giants are only cutting their own throats. serious regulations are in their future. congress will strip them of immunity so people can properly sue the shit out of them.
cheers
My hubby is with you. He never joined either.
The only people who have their thoughts manipulated by Facebook are people who aren't very bright or observant to begin with.
It is incredibly easy to both use Facebook and avoid being affected by 'manipulation'. The fact that some people can't seem to manage it doesnt speak well for the average person's mentality.
John,
I think you are missing the point. It's that censorship is against everything this country stands for. And while I don't agree with Magic 8 that it creates a rightwinger, it does fly in the face of our freedoms.
I only have an account because my daughter created in 2008 it so I could keep up with her thesis project progress because the school was only updating their site every 90 days. This site is my idea of socialization many days.
I am not very social.
I avoided it as long as possible.
When I began circulating my resume I discovered the hiring process is now managed by the generation who grew up with "social media".
Your resume these doys won't even get past the bots unless it includes LinkedIn abd fb links.
Seriously.
As soon as I added the fb link, bingo, I started getting hit.
F'ing morons. Fing, fing morons.
BTW, if by chance anyone is able to find my fb account w/o a direct link, unless fb has f'd up again and changed peoples securing/privacy settings, don't bother looking for my personal info.
Friends request? What's that. Don't bother. That is something I clear out on a quarterly of semi annual basis when I check in from time to time to make sure the privacy settings are still correct.
BTW, don't let them link your photo to your login.
I would starve before I ever bend a knee.. but, that's how I was raised.
I never back up, back down, or give in to bs of any kind.
While Facebook banned pornography early on...
Anthony Weiner is extremely pissed off about the "no nudity" standards on many social media sites. Here's a pic of Anthony's Weiner:
Good one Al! Priceless!
LMAO!
Buzz that is too funny!
I can't believe Uncle Bruce hasn't made an appearance on this article, yet. I know he hasn't been around lately, but just the mention of anything boob-related in the title should be enough to prompt a visit.
LMAO,
I thought the same thing. Maybe I should go and get him! I bet he has a lot to say on this topic and he will stay on point.
When it comes to boobs, I am like a woman in a shoe store, "I want to see every pair!!!!!!!!!!".
Too hilarious!
We finally agree on something.
LOL. A common cause.
I never had so many thumbs up on a comment - I guess I finally posted something that transcends everything.
well, this time... you made two good points that go together very well
I too ""closed" my FB account about 4 years ago, to me it's pointless. I know there is a good deal of comedy here but, in all seriousness, breasts are not reproductive organs. Why there is a double standatd with regards to going topless makes no sense to me. In most of Europe women go topless in public places, why not here?
FB? Not sure why the would be opposed to nipples since they have no problems allowing slander and defamation of character. Maybe it boils down to the definition of, "art".
You make a good point about nudity in Europe. Americans are very provincial.
And you make another good point that they don't seem to catch slander and defamation of character, although I would say, that is probably not in their purview.
Don't have a FB account. Zuck is nothing but a crook that basically stole FB.
I have had people tell me D&R are out of town. They will post something like, 'In New Orleans for the weekend'.
Can only shake my head...
As far as the article I can only say...Free the nipple !
On instagram showing ones ass is allowed. It also allows nudity if it is an actual art piece, like a pic of the statue of David.
People just need to stop being prudes and teaching shame. Hell any kid with internet access can get any porn they want.
It's not something they have never seen before.
I totally agree with what you said. People are way to prudish.
Who is harmed by seeing a woman's nipple? This is uptight nonsense. Do these people wear pasties in the shower?
Were they ashamed to breastfeed their own infants because the child might see a nipple? This is absurd.
All the more reason, perhaps, to not have it on Facebook. Or should we maybe have porn everywhere?
Uh John, my point was porn is already everywhere. Very easily accessible by anyone with an internet connection. One certainly does not need FB to find it.
Also FB can do whatever it wants. If it wants to ban nipples, it can, just like it can ban offensive hate. I also have the right to never have an account with them, which I never will.
Instagram imo is a different animal as it is a picture platform. I have seen women get pictures taken down because of a sheen top, meanwhile anyone can show a picture of their ass. Their standards don't jive.
Same. Never have, never will.
As for the nipples controversy, whatever they decide it shouldn't be discriminating based on gender. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If you allow men's nipples, then you must allow women's. If you ban women's, then you must ban men's. The policy should at least be consistent. The double standards need to end.
I agree about the double standard. It does seem insane.
My youngest is 25 and she is a believer in free the nip. Americans are prudes when is comes to women's bare flesh. I can't believe the comments I see from women complaining about breast feeding in public. FFS its just a tittie. Now people walking around with there genitals exposed....I'll pass.
Depends on who's.
Yep, I have a double standard in my house.
As Facebook cracks down on hate speech, it's also re-evaluating another policy: Nipples
I knew I had saved those old National Geographic's for a reason.
The only thing that comes to mind is the Mr. Universe contest. A lot of MMA and body builders may get dinged in this process.
"It's a brave new world out there, and most of us are just beginning to get our heads wrapped around it. "
It's a "Weenie World" out there, and Most figured that out a long time ago...… Thus Trump !
And YES.....this comment is relevant to the article !