UPDATE: Instagram has lifted the ban on #curvy following a massive backlash from its users. About time too, we say.
The company released a statement saying: 'We want people to be able to express themselves, and hashtags are a great way to do that. At the same time, we have a responsibility to act when we see hashtags being used to spread inappropriate content to our community.
'In the case of #curvy, we don’t like putting restrictions around a term that many people use in very positive ways, so we have decided to unblock the hashtag while taking steps to ensure that it's not used as a vehicle for bad content.'
On 17 July 2015 we wrote…
Instagram has banned the search term #Curvy because, according to a spokesperson, it 'was being used to share images and videos that violated Instagram's community guidelines around nudity'. Right, but #anorexic and #thinspiration don't? The last time we scrolled through, these hashtags had just as many bare bodies as #curvy or any other hashtag celebrating body positivity.
Instagram is a lot of things to many people. But one of the more surprisingly cool draws is that it has become a safe, empowering space for women. Big or small, curvy or thin, there's a community of support you can tap into. But this new double standard threatens all of that. Is this ban on #Curvy not a misrepresentation of a fundamentally harmless word? Perhaps the most baffling thing of all is that #fatf**k is still a searchable hashtag.
If Beiber's butt can make it onto Instagram, surely everyone should be entitled to share their body confidence.
