WHY MEDIA CENSORED MY BODY

I wasn’t shocked at the reaction I received from my t-shirt. I’m used to being told by society that I must regulate my body to fit the norm. I’m used to the fact that images of unaltered women fat are seen as unacceptable.

Instagram recently announced an addition to its already stringent censorship policy: it is enabled to demote from its “Explore” page anything that it deems “inappropriate,” regardless of whether it violates community guidelines or not.

Remaining characteristically vague when it comes to censorship, Instagram offered only one example of the kind of thing it would be cracking down on “sexually suggestive” content. Leaving a lot of room for interpretation.

Images that could be viewed as empowering, body positive or informative can just as easily be seen as suggestive when viewed from a male perspective. It is this lack of objectivity that is most concerning, especially when you consider that the majority of people behind Facebook (Instagram’s parent company) making these decisions are men.