celebrity

Celeste Barber parodied a model’s semi-nude Instagram photo. Only one was removed.

Celeste Barber is known for her #challengeaccepted posts on Instagram. The Australian comedian uploads photos and videos to the social media app, parodying those of celebrities.

The hilarious posts have earned the 38-year-old more than 7.3 million followers.

But when it came to her latest, Instagram didn't approve.

Watch: Cooking with Celeste Barber. Post continues below.

On Friday, Barber uploaded a side-by-side photo of former Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel and herself clutching one bare breast through an open shirt. While that was Swanepoel's only item of clothing, Barber also opted for a pair of nude undies.

The caption read, "When you finally sit down and your kid asks for a drink."

As always, the 'likes' and praise came flooding in, and Swanepoel herself commented, "How did you know that’s exactly what happened?!"

But when Barber's fans started sharing the photo to their own accounts, the app intervened.

"We removed your story because it goes against our Community Guidelines on nudity or sexual activity. 

"Our guidelines are based on our global community, and some audiences may be sensitive to different things," the app alerted anyone who reposted Barber's photo.

However, when these same fans tried to upload the original photo of Candice Swanepoel, there were no issues.

Image: Instagram.

In a series of Instagram Stories on Friday, Barber started reposting her fans' protests, alerting Instagram to the hypocrisy of its "community standards".

She highlighted that models (including Candice Swanepoel) and influencers seem to be able to share semi- or completely nude photographs, while hers has been deemed "inappropriate".

"Hey Instagram, sort out your body-shaming standards, guys," she wrote in one story. "It's 2020. Catch up."

Image: Instagram.

Image: Instagram.

Image: Instagram.

Image: Instagram.

Image: Instagram.

Image: Instagram.

Hours later (after being called out by Barber and an army of her fans), the comedian shared that Instagram had contacted her to apologise.

"Alright, a lot has happened," Barber said on her Instagram story.

"Instagram emailed me an apology, bless, saying it was an error and that they are working to fix it. They also said that even the people that tried to share my post, will be able to.

"They also said that they are going to review the breast-covering policy," she added.

Image: Instagram.

Instagram's community guidelines have been unclear for some time now. 

When scrolling through the app you'll come across models and influencers alike who are technically "nude" but it's not considered a problem. But when someone doesn't fit the mould of the idealised female body, the app removes it.

While the app states that it's because of their 'breast-covering policy', plenty of photos that expose exactly that remain.

In a time where we're trying to shift the narrative from what the idealised body should be to there shouldn't be an idealised body at all, we need social media platforms to read the room and not pick and choose what they think's acceptable.

Either make the rules more clear or don't have them at all.

Feature image: Instagram/@celestebarber

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Top Comments

missnellebelle 4 years ago
I’m not surprised! I posted a few years back a black and white photo of myself covering my naked breasts. You saw a slight curve but nothing vital. And I did it for a challenge to raise awareness about breast checks and breast cancer. They let it be there for years but then removed it for nudity. I’m still confused as to why that was removed but they have spam accounts of nude chicks looking for sex...

rush 4 years ago 1 upvotes
Doesn't surprise me at all. I sometimes get follow requests from obvious porn bots, but when I report them, I get the "this does not go against our community standards" shite. Same with FB. I'm glad Celeste got her apology, and I hope it won't happen again, but I suspect a lot of its to do with her high profile. Would someone with twelve followers get the same apology for having a similar photo taken down? 
missnellebelle 4 years ago 1 upvotes
@rush I was in the same situation. Guarantee they didn’t care when they removed my photo which was up there for breast cancer and breast check awareness.