Should nudity be allowed on social media? What about posting pictures of nude sculpture or pictures? Allowing any form of nudity has been a topic of discussion as of late, and social media sites are creating policies regarding what’s allowed. Instagram is now taking a decided stance on what is and what is not okay to publish.
Today Instagram updated its Community Guidelines and made some big updates when it comes to the subject of nudity. According to their guidelines:
We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too.
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.
Many people have strong feelings on this subject. Some feel that they should be able to post anything of themselves on social media, and others feel they should keep it to themselves. Regardless of your stance, Social Media sites are creating policies around posting different nude, sexual explicit pictures and videos. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ all have similar policies and at times will even delete posts that contains sexually explicit material.
As the Community Guidelines state, Breastfeeding and photos of nude paintings and sculptures are examples of nudity that are allowed. You have likely read some heated debates on Facebook regarding this subject. Regardless of what your thoughts are, it’s hard to draw the line of what should or shouldn’t be allowed. Nicky Jackson Colaco, the director of public policy, told the Wall Street Journal:
How do we establish a baseline around nudity when you have hundreds of millions of users? We need to create a standard that most people can live by.
Social media websites support users all around the world. Acceptance of nudity varies drastically by country and culture. Due to the diversity of users, social media sites have attempted to come up with standards that could be applied to all users.
What are your thoughts? Do you think any form of nudity should be allowed on social media? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.