On Tuesday, Aug. 4, music blog, EDMsauce, reported that the hashtag for EDM was banned. This comes just weeks after sites such as Buzzfeed reported that #Curvy was banned, resulting in backlash from users across many other social media platforms.
Almost immediately, users expressed their distaste with both of Instagram's bans. Many users interpreted the social media platform's ban of #Curvy as being against body positivity because hashtags promoting thin body types still were searchable.
Although both #curvy and #EDM are now searchable terms again, Instagram officials stated the ban was due to violation in their community guidelines. According to Buzzfeed, "A spokesperson from Instagram said the hashtag #Curvy is not searchable because, according to the company, it was being used to share images and videos that violated Instagram’s community guidelines around nudity," and a similar statement was released about #EDM.
Instagram's Community Guidelines states:
"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."
Instagram's director of public policy, Nicky Jackson Colaco, told The Washington Post that blocking #Curvy and presumably #EDM, has nothing to do with the meaning of the hashtag. According to Colaco, "Instagram removes several tags every day when analysis from the company's automated and human content filtering systems get reports from users that they've become a problem," and evidently #curvy and #EDM reached that point.
Users have questioned why some hashtags are banned but not others (#bbw was banned but not #bbwlovers; #EDM was banned but not #EDMlife or #EDMgirls). Instagram has banned hashtags in the past, but their recent efforts seem to be half-hearted or biased to many users. As of Aug. 7, both #Curvy and #EDM are searchable terms but photos will be monitored more closely.
The same day #EDM was banned, Instagram announced a change to the advertising on the app making some users question their motives. It is possible the social media platform is attempting to clean up for potential advertisers.
What does this mean for the future? When you sign up for Instagram and agree to their Terms and Conditions, you ultimately agree to let them have this control. Instagram may continue to ban hashtags, but users have shown they will stand up for what they do and don't want to see on the app.
Do you think Instagram is doing a good job of cleaning up the app? Are they going about it in the right way?
