This Is Why Instagram Won’t Let You #FreetheNipple

Excuses, excuses.

What do Chrissy Teigen, Naomi Campbell, and Chelsea Handler all have in common?

They’ve all tried to post a photo of their bare breasts on Instagram. Or rather, they have posted a photo of their bare breasts on Instagram, only to have Instagram pull the photo down.

Instagram’s censorship has long been a source of frustration: any attempt to #FreeTheNipple has been shut down sooner or later. We finally have someone to blame for this — and it’s not Instagram. 

It’s Apple.

As Emily Manning explained over at i-d:

“During a talk in London on Wednesday, the app’s co-founder and CEO explained that because Instagram is housed in the tech giant’s App Store, it — like every other app — is designated an age rating. The paradoxical guidelines that govern this rating system have received a fair share of criticism all their own, but basically: the store only permits explicit nudity if an app is rated 17+. Instagram is currently rated 12+, a status Systrom argues allows it to appeal to a more diverse audience, including younger users that aren’t interested in nudity.”

This is a pretty shoddy excuse, though: Twitter, for example, is rated 4+ and is rife with porn accounts.

And lest we start sounding like a broken record — looking at a pair of nipples never hurt anybody.