Free the nipple: Photos of bare breasts may soon be allowed on Facebook, Instagram

When Miley Cyrus’ Instagram pictures baring her nipples went viral back in 2019, it created a lot of buzz. An early and a strong supporter of Free The Nipple movement, the singer-songwriter-actor made several appearances both in public and in pictures of Instagram bare breasted, flashing her nipples to show support for the movement.

Models Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner too have gone braless several times in support of the movement, wearing sheer dresses and tops and baring it all. The likes of Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Cara Delevingne, Lordes and Zoe Kravitz too have been early proponents of the movement, ditching their bras and baring their breasts.

While fashion allows for breasts to be bared and top influencers and celebrities have advocated for the same, social media platforms Instagram and Facebook would blur pictures of nipples and bare breasts.

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But in a landmark move, after more than a decade-long Free The Nipple movement and protests erupting in parts of the world for the same, Meta’s independent oversight board has reportedly decided to lift its strict rule that had banned photos of bare breasts to be posted on Instagram and Facebook.

The move also comes in time as recently, Oscar-nominated actor Florence Pugh, who wore a sheer pink Valentino gown, baring her nipples had caused a stir and addressed the controversy saying, “I’ve never been scared of what’s underneath the fabric. If I’m happy in it, then I’m gonna wear it. Of course, I don’t want to offend people, but I think my point is: How can my nipples offend you that much?”

Meta’s oversight board is composed of academics, politicians and journalists. On January 17 it advised Meta to change its adult nudity and sexual activity community standard “so that it is governed by clear criteria that respect international human rights standards,” reported The Guardian.

Meta will most likely follow the recommendations.

The board also said in its recommendation that, “the (old) policy is based on a binary view of gender and a distinction between male and female bodies,” which makes rules about baring nipples “unclear” for those who do not identify as women. The board further argued that the policy was hindering inclusivity on the platforms, especially for women, intersex, non-binary and transgender people.

This comes after the board overturned Meta’s decision to strike out two Instagram posts featuring transgender and non-binary people with their chests bared.

Meta’s strict nudity policy would also often censure content of breastfeeding women and had been a subject of debate for long now.

Free The Nipple movement had first started in 2000 to de-sexualise the image of breasts. It went mainstream in 2012 after Facebook took down shots from the actor/director Lina Esco’s documentary Free the Nipple — a move heavily criticised. Allegations of allowing hate speech while censoring nipples, were made against Meta. To this, CEO Mark Zuckerburg had responded in 2018 saying, “It’s easier to build an AI system to detect a nipple than what is hate speech."

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