Is Instagram Homophobic? Photo-Sharing App Removes Pic of Two Men Kissing, Apologises Later

Instagram has apologised for removing pictures of two men kissing which was shared on the social networking site last month. A London-based photographer, Stella Asia Consonni, posted the picture of Jordan Bowen and Luca Lucifer on the photo-sharing app on June 30. However, Instagram pulled down the photo 'because it violated their community guidelines'. The act angered many activists calling it an offence committed towards the LGBTQ community. Singers Olly Alexander and Jade Thirlwall also expressed their protest in the incident.

The photo was series for I-D magazine in which photographer Stella exhibits modern relationships through pictures of couples. A caption on the photo reads, "Is pizza is the only thing better than love?" Stella said that since posting the picture she has been receiving homophobic messages. Talking about removing the picture from Instagram, she said that the company did not give her any explanation.

Stella shared the picture with the caption, "My new project on @i_d ! words by @georgie_wright_ thanks to @becca_bw here @mrjordanbowen and @iamlucalucifer being cute for me *UPDATE* Link in bio IG apologised for taking the picture down but there is still a long way to go to fight homophobia - judging also from the hate comments below."

Here is the photo of two men kissing which was removed by Instagram:

One of the men in the pictures took to Instagram staring how Instagram has reduced his relation to "Community Guideline". On Instagram, Bowen said, "My relationship of seven years with @iamlucalucifer reduced to a Community Guideline. Earlier this was removed from @stellaasiaconsonni and flagged as inappropriate. @instagram spoon feeds us with rainbows and hashtags to appear in solidarity but it seems real people in love have no place here. this is discriminatory and archaic and violates our right as a couple. Please help us share and put this right."

Here is the post:

Lucifer also shared his views about the incident on Instagram:

Instagram issued an apology and said it was removed by mistake. A spokesperson said, "This post was removed in error and we are sorry. It has since been reinstated." Meanwhile, they also said that the photo is among the "millions of reports in a week" where offended users demand its removal from the site. There have been multiple such incidents in the past when Instagram pulled down posts after receiving complaints from users.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2018 09:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).