Who is allowed to be naked on Instagram? : A comparative picture analysis of nude photos which have been removed from, compared to those which have been allowed on, Instagram

The aim of this essay is to examine the censorship that the social media platform Instagram exerts over pictures of female nudes, and whether the body type of the women depicted is a factor in how the censorship is carried through. This is executed by making a comparative picture analysis of eight nude photos published on Instagram, four of which are allowed on the platform and four which are not, and have therefore been deleted. The bodies are analysed, and aspects of how they are depicted which are related to the Instagram Community Guidelines, and furthermore if the body depicted conforms to the norms of our contemporary beauty standards and “the Male Gaze”, are reviewed. This fundamental part of the study isbased on the formal analysis and the methods of semiotics. Furthermore, the history of the nude in art, the body norms and ideals of our contemporary society, the Instagram Community rules and Guidelines and the artists are presented briefly. The discussion which has been carried through is based on the analysis and thesis of how female nudes of the Western art cannon have been received, judged, divided into categories and censored to answer the central inquires of the essay. In conclusion, this essay finds how pictures of nude women on Instagram are received, judged, and censored differently depending on whether they fit into the norms of beauty and conform to the male gaze. Hence, the rules of Instagram are found to have been followed through with double standard and bias