Instagram changes its nudity policy following the campaign of a black plus size model

Briton Nyome Nicholas-Williams asked for the deletion of a photo in which she appeared covering her breasts with her hands, which is not the case with similar ones of “very naked and thin white women”.

Instagram’s policies on nude pictures will be changed starting Wednesday, following a campaign by African-American model Nyome Nicholas-Williams, who accused the platform of censoring her photos.

The model, born and resident in the UK but of Caribbean parents, assured in August that an image in which she appeared covering her breasts with her hands – and which was intended to show self-esteem and body acceptance – was deleted from Instagram. , being considered a violation of that social network’s guidelines on pornography and nudity. Meanwhile, similar photos of “very naked and thin white women“Like Emily Ratajkowski, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, they stayed on the platform.

Nicholas-Williams was supported by thousands of people who reposted his photo with the hashtag #IWantToSeeNyome (“I want to see Nyome”). Activist Gina Martin and photographer Alexandra Cameron, who took the deleted image, campaigned alongside the model. The three spent three months battling the image removal and lobbying Instagram to make the change.

Policy change

As a result, Instagram reported that it “will allow content where someone is simply hugging, cupping, or holding the breasts” in order to “help ensure all body types are treated fairly.” The company admitted that in Nicholas-Williams’s case, its “breast-tightening” policy was not being applied correctly.

At the same time, the social network argued that it must “draw the line somewhere”So, if a person “squeezes the breast with clenched fingers gripping the movement, or if there is a clear change in the shape of the breast,” that content will continue to violate its rules. This policy will apply to both Instagram and Facebook.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, Nicholas-Williams applauded the policy change, though he made it clear that there is still a lot of work to be done because “plus-size women of color continue to be censored in many ways.”

“Of course, there’s a huge racial imbalance in the algorithm that still persists, as white bodies get promoted and don’t have to worry about censoring their posts, but black bodies still have to justify their presence on the platform.” Nicholas-Williams complained.

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