Instagram overhauled their rules this week, making things more clear and promoting a safer social networking platform for users of all ages. The social network, which is owned by Facebook, updated its rules and regulations – in an effort to cut down on the pornographic and offensive images that were making their way onto the platform. However, one of the issues that was exposed were images of women breastfeeding.
The new rules point out that, “women actively breastfeeding are allowed,” in addition to those sharing “photos of post-mastectomy scarring” are both legal and allowed on the network. While that won’t go over completely well with everyone – it has become a cultural norm to celebrate both things – since there isn’t anything actually offensive about either.
Initially, users were celebrating the fact that Instagram was updating its rules. However, users quickly figured out that it wasn’t actually a change to any rules in particular – just a clarification on some of the rules that created a lot of gray area. For instance, the network now outright bans material that is deemed harshly offensive. This was largely created in an effort to stop revenge porn. The rules though clearly point out now that those who are sharing images that contain nudity – but do not fall into the aforementioned categories of breastfeeding, or post-mastectomy scarring, will be banned completely.
The entire breastfeeding controversy began last month when a few celebrities shared photos of themselves breastfeeding. It sparked outrage and inspiration from a broad crowd and at the end of the day – played a major role in Instagram finally taking action on the rules. At this point it’s unclear how the rules will work out, and whether Instagram will have to take any additional efforts to improve the overall safety and security aspects on the network. Especially when harassment is such a major issue on all forms of social media.
