By Emma Shapiro, Editor-At-Large, Don´t Delete Art

1. Content Moderation = A Better Internet ; Bad Content Moderation = An Unequal Internet

A free internet is an important part of a free society: where participant-users, including artists, can feel safe to express themselves, and where platforms aren’t pressured by governments to censor or surveil their users. What many social media users don’t quite understand is that social media platforms are owned and run by private companies, which means that a given platform’s content moderation policies and its enforcement of those policies are forms of internationally protected speech, and in many cases, make these platforms more useful to users. Content moderation is necessary to improve the functionality and usefulness of online spaces; without it, the sheer volume of posted content would render much of it unseen by anyone outside of a given user's immediate circles—an outcome that would be especially devastating for artists.

Platforms like Instagram are crucial tools for artists to gain visibility, connect with an audience, and make a living. As such, artists who face censorship and suppression on these platforms have reason to be concerned when their opportunities for success are hindered by content moderation that doesn’t take artistic perspectives into account or is influenced by biased governmental pressure.

Therefore, it is important for artists and anti-art-censorship groups to urge platforms like Instagram to focus on protecting human rights, and integrate artistic perspectives into their content moderation policies. By centering a nuanced understanding of artistic expression within such policies, internet platforms could ensure that artists do not face undue censorship through biased and restrictive guidelines or governmental interference.

2. Despite its centrality to human experience and to the history of art, Nudity gets a bad rap online

Across most platforms, the prohibition of nudity (and its conflation with sexual activity) can be the most frustrating and persistent obstacle artists face. Take the “female” nipple, for example: Instagram’s notorious anti-female-nipple policy has become quite famous over the years, making it a flash-point for public conversations about art censorship online. The (slow) evolution of this policy has been due greatly to pressure from activists, artivists, and researchers who have pointed to the harms and hypocrisy of gendering and sexualizing imagery that includes “female” nipples.

Despite the slow progress, lens-based artwork that includes nudity continues to be a stumbling block for artists on Instagram. For many years, Instagram has maintained that “Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK,” but photography, video art, and other forms of art that incorporate lens-based depictions of the “real” nude human body are not protected. This is one of the primary instigating causes for the creation of Don’t Delete Art in 2020, and continues to present challenges for artists across the internet.  

3. Being Aware Of Your Account Health Is Essential

Keeping track of Instagram’s constant updates, new tools, and policy changes can seem overwhelming and futile; for artists facing suppression and censorship, the anxiety of simply posting can be enough to deal with. But, though they can be overwhelming, the new tools that users have to track their account health and monitor content disputes are the same features that many artists and others were demanding just years ago, when appeals processes and transparency features were nonexistent. While many aspects of downranking, shadowbanning, and suppression are still murky, keeping an eye on your account’s health can be key to ensuring its visibility.

How do I track my account’s health? On instagram, your Account Status can be found at the very bottom of the list that appears when you tap the hamburger (yes, hamburger) on the top right of your profile. Under Account Status, there are various categories and a health indicator for each. Within each of these categories you can find the posts you’ve made that might be negatively affecting your account, and you may have the option to appeal Instagram’s original ruling. By keeping an eye on this space, you can monitor how your account is being moderated, and advocate for yourself, even if just a little bit.

If you want more control over what appears in your feed, adjust your settings to see more/less “sensitive” or “political content” under Suggested Content or Content Preferences.

And it is always smartest to know exactly what you are part of and what your content may be used for: find the Privacy Policy under the About section (below Account Status), where you can find more options on how to download your data, opt out of Instagram using your content for AI training, and more.

4. Art Censorship Online often impacts those already marginalized

Ill-considered content moderation negatively affects artists in unintended ways and replicates social iniquities. In practice, we see this affecting art that depicts the female body, disabled bodies, LGBTQ themes, and dissenting political art, especially in countries experiencing political turmoil or in totalitarian regimes. And yet, social media, and particularly Instagram, continues to be one of the most critical tools artists have to share their art, find opportunities, and connect with community. The 2023 Artsy Industry Trends report indicated that even after the art world has returned to in-person events following the ebb of  COVID19, its dependence on Instagram continues to rise: among galleries, it was identified as a primary way of finding new artists to represent, just behind personal recommendations.

When artists’ voices are removed, self-censored, or suppressed, we lose their valuable perspectives in our understanding of our world – and easily-findable records of their artwork are lost to the zeitgeist.

 When we look back on our art landscape 50 years from now, will we recognize how much it was shaped by ill-considered content moderation design and online art censorship?

5. The Fight For Artistic Freedom Online Has A Past, As Well As A Future

Having your artwork removed from or downranked on social media can be an incredibly frustrating experience; over the years, many artists have lost opportunities, audiences, revenue, and platforms for their art... But it is important, too, for all artists to know that the landscape of art censorship online has evolved significantly over these same years, and our fight has resulted in significant changes. Learn about the history you are part of at Censorpedia.

6. Reporting Online Censorship is an important step to Fighting It!

One of the most proactive things artists can do if they face censorship of their art online, is to connect with Don’t Delete Art. Don’t Delete Art is the only international group specifically advocating for artists who face censorship online, and we are well-positioned within the digital rights community to find better ways to progress the protection of artistic expression online. But we need your help: our information comes directly from the artists who report censorship to us. By gathering your stories and evidence, we are best able to keep track of changes online, monitor your free expression, and learn what is important to the art community.

Report events of art censorship and suppression to Don’t Delete Art here: https://www.dontdelete.art/submit

Emma Shapiro is an American artist, writer, and activist based in Valencia, Spain. She is Editor-At-Large for the Don't Delete Art campaign and the founder of the international art project and movement Exposure Therapy.

Don’t Delete Art (DDA) is a project drawing attention to the damage done when art is censored in online environments. We are a collaboration of artist-activists and human rights organizations advocating for greater protection of artistic expression across platforms.