Celest Barber vs Instagram — Why The Issues Goes So Much Deeper Than Women’s Breasts

Lacey-Jade Christie
4 min readOct 20, 2020

Friday afternoon brought an issue to the attention of millions of Instagram users around Australia — one that we in marginalised communities have been aware of for years: the Instagram algorithm favours thin, white, cisgendered people, and effectively censors the rest of us.

It all started on Friday when comedic juggernaut Celeste Barber posted the latest in her #CelesteChallengeAccepted series of parody images: a side-by-side photo of her imitating a post from former Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel, clutching her bare breast. Both were wearing a shirt falling off the shoulder, exposing side-boob; Barber had added a string bikini.

But while both photos revealed the exact same parts of each women’s bodies (you could argue, in fact, that the comedian’s was more modest), Instagram wouldn’t let fans share Barber’s post, notifying some users that it “goes against our community guidelines on nudity or sexual activity”. Swanepoel’s post, meanwhile, went unreported. “Hey Instagram, sort out your body-shaming standards, guys,” Barber wrote, sharing one fan’s screenshot showing Instagram’s repost rejection. “It’s 2020. Catch up.”

The Instagram algorithm is a beast that those outside of HQ will never understand completely, but what we do know is that images in breach of Instagram’s Community Guidelines are flagged through a mix of manual reporting and AI tech. Instagram also has over 15,000 employees working all around the world to review posts, and look for banned material. With all of this technology and so many employees it is hard to understand how prejudices still haunt the algorithm — yet here we are.

This is not an isolated incident.

In June 2020, plus-size model Nyome Nicholas-Williams posted an artistically posed topless picture of herself, in which her breasts were covered by her arms. Instagram promptly removed it — a bold move, silencing a black woman in the context of the renewed Black Lives Matter movement, and one that did not go unnoticed.

Since the post was removed Nyome has spoken about the double standards that POC and fat people face that thin, white models are not subjected to. In a recent interview with Freeda, Nyome explained that “censorship happens everywhere but on social media it happens more, especially to black fat women like myself”.

Since her post was deleted Nyome’s followers (now 60K) have rallied behind her using the hashtag #IWantToSeeNyome. A quick search of the hashtag will lead you to reposts of Nyome’s original post, plus artistic tributes and posts from women of colour posing in their own versions of Nyome’s photo — leading to many facing the removal of their own posts.

The incident resulted in a Change.org petition, which has now amassed more than 20,000 signatures protesting what it refers to as “Instagram’s prejudicial and clearly racially motivated censoring when the images do not violate guidelines; with the important aim to showcase all people of all sizes and ethnicities.”

That same month, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri publicly acknowledged the need for Instagram to look at “algorithmic bias”, as well as harrassment, verification and content distribution. “Our focus will start with Black community, but we’re also going to look at how we can better serve other underrepresented groups,” he said.

But by October, not much had changed. Which was why Kayla Logan, an American plus size blogger and influencer, started the # DontDeleteMyBody movement: an effort to not only prove to society how fatphobic and racist the Instagram algorithm is, but to also beat it.

On 1 October, at 6pm PST, 50 fat influencers from around the world — with varying racial backrounds, and millions of followers collectively — posted an image to their grid. The images varied — some were artistic nudes, others fun fashion pics — but all contained a search bar with the words “Why does IG sensor my body but not thin bodies?”.

Predictably, many of the influencers reported the removal of their posts for breaching Instagram’s community guidelines; and (like Barber’s post) many of the images were banned from being reshared. One participant, Kalae Nouveau suffered at the hands of Instagram’s algorithm more than others. Nouveau’s original and subsequent posts were deleted, resharing her posts was banned, and her account was shadowbanned. The only #DontDeleteMyBody post that Kalae was able to keep in her feed is a grey tile which reads: “I’m tired. I’ll continue to tell y’all not to delete my body tomorrow. #DontDeleteMyBody”. Is it a coincidence that the only post to remain did not feature her Black fat body?

There are three different issues at play here: the censorship of black people and people of colour; the censorship of fat people and people in marginalised bodies; and the censorship of women and women’s bodies. Yet all three bring us to the same conclusion: it’s time all social media giants to update their guidelines to make room for marginalised voices, people and bodies.

According to both women, Instagram has apologised to Barber and Nicholas-Williams, saying their images were mistakenly censored; both are now working with Instagram to update their guidelines for the future.

Until that happens, you can help make a difference. Consciously follow people in marginalised communities and engage with their content; save posts, comment, like and share the content that resonates with you and that you think people need to see. Show the social media giants and big corporations that diversity and inclusion matter in the world and that you want to see it.

Thin white women have been at the forefront of Western Society for its entirety and it’s time to pass the mic.

An edited version of this article was also published on The Guardian.

Originally published at http://laceyjadechristie.com on October 20, 2020.

--

--

Lacey-Jade Christie

Lacey-Jade Christie is a fiery Melbourne-based plus-size influencer. Lacey is a LGBTIQ+ activist, feminist and published writer.