Meta called for ‘freeing the nipples’
“Unleash these beauties” is the motto of the Meta group, which includes Facebook and Instagram. Relaxing rules on nudity that apparently carry a “gender binary” by preventing women and transgender people from revealing their breasts.
According to the group, Meta (Facebook, Instagram) is being urged to reconsider its nudity rules, particularly those that prohibit women from exposing their breasts and harm the ability of women, transgender or non-binary people to express themselves. supervisory board.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a former Danish prime minister and member of Meta’s supervisory board, said at an online conference on Instagram: “We ask Meta to look into this. We say there should be more equality.”
“Interestingly, the only nipples that aren’t sexualized are men or operated nipples,” he said.
The social media giant’s ‘supreme court’ recently ruled that Meta should not have posted pictures of a couple showing their breasts, with their nipples covered.
The legend talked about the health of transsexuals and explained that one in two would soon undergo sex reassignment surgery (breast removal). The couple were raising money to fund the intervention.
“Removing these images is not consistent with Meta’s values or human rights commitments,” the watchdog said Tuesday.
“All Nipples”
“The company’s adult nudity policy more severely restricts women, transgender and non-binary people from expressing themselves on its platforms,” the board said.
The review board consists of 20 international members, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and former political leaders. It was created in 2020 at the suggestion of boss Mark Zuckerberg and is responsible for evaluating the content moderation policy of the Californian group.
The meta rules prohibit images of female nipples except in certain health contexts, such as breastfeeding or gender reassignment surgery.
“These rules are based on a gender binary,” the council said. “This involves moderators making quick and subjective determinations of gender and sex, which is largely unrealistic.”
It therefore recommends that Meta’s leadership establish criteria for “clear, objective and respectful treatment of human rights” so that people are treated in accordance with international human rights standards without sex or gender discrimination.
Instagram is regularly accused by users of caution and objectivity.
“Leave these beauties,” model Helena Christensen wrote Thursday in a comment on a parody video of comedian Celeste Barber rocking her pixelated bare breasts.
At Instagram’s Board of Supervisors conference on Thursday, users asked why Meta didn’t “remove” all of her nipples.
Sexual gaze
But the members of the institution do not comment on this question.
“This case shows that Meta’s current rules restricting breast images are confusing and based on gender binaries and differences between male and female bodies,” board member Julie Owono, a consultant and director of the NGO Internet Without Borders, told AFP.
Meta, for its part, recalled that the controversial images have already been restored, and the company has already admitted that they should not have been removed.
“We know we can do more to support the LGBTQ+ community,” a spokesperson told AFP.
The group plans to publicly respond to the council’s recommendations by mid-March.
In August 2021, Instagram issued an apology after briefly deleting posts sharing a poster for the film Madres Paralelas, which showed Spain’s Pedro Almodovar’s nipple with a drop of milk hanging from it. They were restored in the name of artistic context.
And in October 2020, the app revised one of its rules regarding photos of breasts, banning “squeezing” under the penalty of a cliché deemed pornographic, and therefore removed.
A plus-size model accused Instagram of discrimination and the platform allowed content of a person hugging or simply holding their chest.
with AFP
