Facebook to reconsider its nudity policy after photographers’ outcry
Jun 6, 2019
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Facebook has the policy to ban photographic nudity, which has been a problem for many photographers who share their work on Facebook and Instagram. But this could soon change. Photographer Spencer Tunick recently organized a nude photo shoot outside of company’s offices to challenge its policies. As a result, Facebook will reconsider its nudity guidelines when it comes to photographic art.
The photo shoot took place on 2 June outside of Facebook’s New York offices. Tunick directed over a hundred people who lay nude on the pavement. They covered their genitals with enlarged prints of male nipples, and women wore male nipple stickers, too. In collaboration with the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), Tunick published photos and videos on Instagram to challenge its parent company’s nudity policy. Check it out here, but note that the link is a bit NSFW.
Artsy writes that Tunick has been arrested five times by the NYPD for staging nude photo shoots without a permit. The recent shoot was the first in New York after 20 years. Following the event, Tunick said: “This is actually a clothed photograph. People are just clothed in male nipples.” Well, that’s clever!
On Wednesday, after the shoot was done, NCAC announced that Facebook will reconsider its nudity guidelines. As I mentioned, it currently bans photographic nudity and female nipples, which has been, shall we say, controversial. According to NCAC, Facebook representatives will collaborate with them on revising its current policies. They will reportedly meet with a group of artists, educators, curators, and activists “to discuss the impact of its current policies and how they can be revised to better serve creators.”
Facebook’s nudity policy currently reads as follows:
For example, while we restrict some images of female breasts that include the nipple, we allow other images, including those depicting acts of protest, women actively engaged in breast-feeding, and photos of post-mastectomy scarring. We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures.
Despite the part about “photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art,” Facebook has still managed to censor works of art. Reuben’s paintings, ancient Roman statues, and a 30,000-year-old statue of a naked woman – they all got flagged for nudity and banned from Facebook.
As you may assume, the same has happened with iconic photos a couple of times. Irving Penn’s images were removed from Facebook for “violating its community standards.” The same thing happened with Nick Ut’s famous photo Napalm Girl. However, this escalated quickly and even led Facebook to relax its censorship restrictions on “newsworthy” images.
If photographers want to post nude images, they need to “hide” female nipples in them. When I scroll through my Facebook and Instagram feed, I see some fine art nudes censored this way. While this means that it takes more time for photographers to prepare photos for posting them, it also kinda takes away from the photos, in my opinion. Despite censoring their own images, I often see these photographers complaining about their photos being removed for nudity after all. It’s frustrating and annoying.
Apparently, Tunick’s photo shoot of “people dressed in male nipples” has had an effect. It’s not over yet, but Facebook has at least agreed to reconsider its nudity policy for photographers. I honestly hope it will be changed because it will enable many fantastic photographers to share their artistic nude photos without being banned.
[via Artsy]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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26 responses to “Facebook to reconsider its nudity policy after photographers’ outcry”
New Facebook rule: no visible skin.
Facebook is antiquated and its networking usefulness has been stripped due to these policies driving users to more user friendly platforms that actually do a better job of networking reach. Facebook should alter its policy on instagram, let it be free, and I guarantee you it wont be beat. Facebook is dead. Only for political purposes now.
If you have to rely on nudity in your photos on Facebook you are not a photographer you are a pornographer.
It isn’t empowering to exploit the power someone already has to gain more likes.
Kevin Lane imagine what perversion to take pictures of women without a burqa! We must ban every inch of skin and finally be virtuous ! ;)
I imagine there are a few hundred thousand boudoir photographers around the globe who would disagree with you there. :)
Luigi Barbano yeah because no relying on nudity to make up for your crappy photography means putting women in Islamic garb……
If you feel threatened by not being able to show nudity on a public forum that speaks volumes about the quality of work you produce.
John Aldred anyone is free to disagree. I’m not a boudoir photographer myself but I know several who have never needed to use nudity to sell their work.
Kevin Lane that Venus de Milo, eh? Phwoar!
The guy that made her, he were a right talented pornographer.
LOL
Do it without using nudity if you can. Of course you probably can’t.
If you really think you need the nudity put it on your own platform.
Here I’ll help you out with a discount. https://www.greengeeks.com/track/kevinlane
Go get famous Baby!
Im a photographer and lots of my work is boudoir. I think its pretty decent. ?♂️ http://Www.instagram.com/stdenisphotography
I like your work!
Kevin Lane I am all for not exploiting women. Being as I am one. However, have you given a thought to the women who actually enjoy being photographed in boudoir/nude style of photography?
Some feel it’s actually empowering. So it isn’t about it being pornography, but photography. There are varying degrees of nude and boudoir photography, the tasteful stuff should not be confused with pornography. Such a wide, sweeping statement. ?
Gayle Bevan oh my goodness…. is not allowing nudity on the public forum of Facebook really going to stop those who enjoy it from it?
Buy your own website. They deleted my comment about that because it had a link in it.
I’ve been banned for nudity on fully clothed images as well as fully censored image where you couldn’t see any more than what one would see at the beach or public pool. Appealed and still lost. To me it’s not about keeping sexual content off Facebook but oppressing true artists that don’t fit their true agenda. As far as artists only being able to sell their work by using nudity is bs. Sure some are selling the sex appeal, but many don’t see the human body and automatically equate it with sex. In fact, doing so reflects more on the viewer than the creators. A naked human body is not inherently sexual. *The largest art nude collection is held by the Vatican. Of coarse, these are not photographs, but why should one medium be set aside as being pornographic while the others are not?
Bill Cosby used to say “You don’t need to swear to be funny.” Then it turned out he was drugging women and raping them. So now I don’t listen when people try to sound like they have any integrity when they say stupid shit like “If you have to rely on nudity you’re not a photographer, you’re a pornographer.”
https://www.amazon.com/Greg-Easton/e/B00GMT9QVM
And for the record, Helmut Newton called himself a pornographer and you’re not worthy to lick his boots.
i’ve just got out of 3 days’ ban because of a maternity picture post 2 months ago…
Facebook Jail for sharing songs from Spotify because of the album covers containing “nudity”.
Oh don’t get me started. We’re a (tasteful) lingerie brand and both FB, eBay and Insta say that our images (of lingerie cutouts and marketing material) are inappropriate. What would they like us to show our lingerie in……..?
I stopped posting all my artistic images on fb. I use my own web site, now. No censors except myself. If I want to alert fb friends of new photos, I just mention it in a post and include a link to the web site.
It’s absolutely OK to have videos of people being beheaded, dogs thrown out of buildings and people get shot point blank, but God forbid a nipple is exposed. This is unfortunately a hallmark of American culture where sex and nudity is still sin and violence id mainstream.
Facebook still allowing tons of fake Russian troll accounts. But they’ll ban you over an artistic nyde photo.
I got a seven day banning for calling somebody a Russian troll account a moron. Whatever they do, they need to fucking write down the rules and make them make sense.
I created a series of “flower porn” images to protest these draconian rules. Just flowers photographed in a way to highlight what they really are- the reproductive organs of plants. Guess what? No nudity, but their bots certainly flagged them pretty quickly. lol!