Sunday, April 05, 2015

Instagram and censorship

I’m an Instagram fan. I have several accounts and follow a wide range of people, some with photography talent, and some who just tell the story of their lives. I have a simple means of determining what like and don’t like. I swipe past photos I don’t like. I heart photos that like. On occasion, I find a photo that I don’t like because I am offended by it, but I swipe past. On occasion, I’ve stopped following. It seems simple. I don’t need somebody else to determine what I can see.

Why is it that Instagram censors its feed? Buzzfeen addresses this in Why did Instragrm Delete these women’s photos of their bodies?

Last December, the company announced that it has 300 million users who upload more than 70 million photos and videos every day.

Attempting to enforce community standards at such a scale will no doubt inevitably result in accidental takedowns and confusion. But the frequency with which Instagram takes down photographs involving the female body and expressions of feminism has provoked controversy – and suggests a broader tension between the network and its users.

I looked at each photo and honestly cannot see why any of them were deleted. I don’t need to be protected from these images. Lighten up Instagram, quit pushing people to Tumblr.