Social media platform Facebook has some strict policies against any kind of nudity depiction online. Even artistic nudity is censored on the social media platform which has time and again sparked a controversy among the users. Renowned artist Spencer Tunick who is known for organising large scale nude shoots decided to hit them right where it strikes by holding a protest in front of the Facebook office in New York. Over 100 people gathered and stripped in front of their headquarters on Sunday to protest against censorship regarding Facebook and Instagram's policies around artistic nudity. Pictures and videos of this protest called #WeTheNipple were shared on Instagram. Facebook Bans Breast Cancer Nonprofit's Fundraising Ad Campaign for Violating Nudity Guidelines, Criticised on Social Media.

Tunick collaborated with the National Coalition Against Censorship for this campaign and nude models gathered for the demonstration. All of them held nipple signs in the air as they naked on the ground. These women covered their own nipples with images of male nipples, also covering their genitalia with the same. Tunick himself had got these pictures to give to the demonstrators. Facebook Bans Nudity? Social Media Removes Flemish Paintings by Rubens For Nude Content.

View Videos of Nude Protestors For #WeTheNipple Campaign: 

 

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A post shared by Spencer Tunick (@spencertunick) on

 

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A post shared by Spencer Tunick (@spencertunick) on

Women who were part of this protest were Members of women's rights group Grab Them By The Ballot. According to the community standards of Facebook and the Facebook-owned Instagram, artistic female nudity is not allowed. They allow nudity only in the form of paintings and sculptures, but nude photos are not allowed. Facebook restricts "the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content." So is the case with Instagram which includes even digitally created content showing genitals or butts.

But these two platforms are where many artists look to share their work. In fact, Instagram is a photo-sharing application which sees a lot of creative pictures that may have nudity. It restricts the people from sharing their interpretations. As Tunick said, "there is no reason for Facebook or Instagram to censor this video or block from hashtags." This is not the first time Tunick has held such a demonstration. He aims to change the general attitudes towards nudity around the world.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 03, 2019 06:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).