A social media storm was brewing yesterday as topless pictures of Scout Willis (daughter of Die Hard star Bruce Willis and Striptease pin-up Demi Moore) were posted to Twitter by Scout herself in protest against the apparent ‘anti-nipple’ policy of photo sharing platform Instagram.
The 22-year-old actress was originally banned from Instagram for posting a picture of an item of clothing she had designed featuring two topless women. She then took to Twitter to vent her frustrations, and then subsequently went on a bare-chested jaunt around New York City, taking photos along the way which she posted to Twitter with the hashtag #FreeTheNipple.
We’ll keep this particular blog entry free of any nude picture, but all of the images posted by @Scout_Willis can be found on her Twitter page where she also goes on to explain that it’s not just about losing her Instagram pictures:
It's so much bigger than @instagram now
— Scout LaRue Willis (@Scout_Willis) May 29, 2014
This is about helping women feel empowered to make personal choices about their bodies not dictated by what society says is decent
— Scout LaRue Willis (@Scout_Willis) May 29, 2014
Following Scout Willis’ public complaint to Instagram, her account was reinstated (albeit without the images that contravene the site’s policy), however she has since declared her disinterest in rejoining Instagram, saying “They gave it back, but I don’t want it…”.
However, you do have to wonder what would have happened if someone less famous than Scout Willis had complained about being banned, or if her #FreeTheNipple campaign on Twitter hadn’t seen so much support. With strict policies governing what will and will not be tolerated on social networks, it can be easy to accidentally post something that crosses the line and sees all of your content removed or blocked, and your account suspended or deleted.
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So you can write about it – but you don’t dare to show the topless and completely natural photos Willis posted on Twitter?
“We’ll keep this particular blog entry free of any nude picture” is a very weak excuse.
Who are you afraid of offending? If you’re not going to help Willis fight against censorship in media, you shouldn’t have posted this at all.