Nude Blogger Wins Censorship War With Instagram

Well, that’s one way to show your gratitude.

A nude blogger whose self-described “body positive” Instagram page was shut down for violating the social-media network’s nudity policy has celebrated her return to the site by posting a nude photo of herself partially obscured by a placard reading: “F*ck you Instagram.”

Australian Jessa O’Brien, 28, who posts under the handle The Nude Blogger, has built up a following of more than 45,000 fans since she launched the page, which majors on “non-pornographic and non-sexual” images of herself naked (think yoga poses on the beach, sensitively backlit images of a girl in a tree, cartwheels on the sand) since its launch in October 2016.

The page was reactivated this week after it was shut down six weeks ago, and O’Brien celebrated with the post targeting the social-media giant’s often-confused messaging on appropriate content in no uncertain terms.

O’Brien said in a post that the picture with the placard was the first time she has shown her face on the site.

In a blog post on her website, excerpts of which she also posted on Instagram, O’Brien described the move by Instagram to reinstate her account as “a step in the right direction for Instagram, social media, and society,” and said her victory “serves as a reminder to never give up on our message, even when we’re going up against Goliath.”

“I went up against Instagram, and I actually came out victorious. I feel such a sense of fulfillment. My determination to expose these hideous double standards and Instagram’s contradictory and blurred guidelines has kept me up… a lot. I have felt a sense of responsibility to speak out against the social-media giants.”

O’Brien said the closure of the account had actually “proved to be one of the best things to happen for my message about body-positivity” because of the attention she has received in mainstream media.

However Instagram may have opened a can of worms for itself by reactivating the Nude Blogger account.

The community guidelines published by the site say: “We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too.”