Yesterday, I posted this picture on Instagram. Sarah didn’t feel like drawing a moment so she just drew. Half way her drawing she asked whether she was allowed to draw boobs. I thought it was interesting, because it displays norms people have. With Seize Your Moments I show the culture of a country by asking people to draw their beautiful moments. This can be in how people react on the question or what their drawings depict. I don’t want to censor which drawings end up on the website. It’s not mine to say whether something is a beautiful moment or not. That’s in the eye of the ones who draw. I just want to showcase the diversity and sameness of peoples lives. So while slaying a mouse with a frying pan might not my type of beautiful moment. It was for the guy who was bothered by the mouse in the house for weeks. And therefore this moment ended up on the website.
So I don’t censor the content of the drawings. But apparently I have to do this when I share these moments on social media. After posting a photograph of Sarah with her drawing on Instagram my account got deleted by Instagram. Yes, you read it well. Deleted the whole account. No warning to remove the image. In that case I just would have removed the post. Just deletion and no chance to recover the account. According to Instagram I would have violated the terms of use.
Their terms of use state the following:
1. You may not post violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content via the Service.
But the nudity in this photo was a drawing, not a photo. It wasn’t in any sense pornographic of sexually suggestive. It’s a piece of art. The photo isn’t meant to be offensive at all and if it does I apologize.
It’s interesting that the removal of a social media account makes me frustrated. Me, for whom laughing is a standard reaction if things go wrong. I had a good time when I missed a plane in Singapore and also the adventures after sustaining a head injury in Australia where fun. It seems a futile thing, a social media account but it isn’t. Why does it bother me so much? First, I thought naively that I was the one to say what goes onto my accounts and not a company. The sense of ownership of a social media account is impoverished My Instagram account felt mine, but clearly it isn’t.
Second, a social media account acts as a way to express yourself and now it was taken away from me, I feel confined. As if I can’t tell all the stories I want to tell. For instance, a lot of the beautiful moments people draw are about relations. Friendship, children and love. Especially with the last one it differs from country to country what people tell about their love related moments. In Nepal it’s too much to draw a kiss. In Sweden and Finland full fledged sex scenes where being drawn. I think these kind of differences and stories are interesting and I want to share them. Their are lots of themes which can be controversial and where cultural differences play an important role. It’s important to be able to share these in order to create understanding.
Off course, I can start a new Instagram account and the problem of the deletion has a practical solution. But at this point I’m not sure about that. Sarah asked me if she was allowed to draw boobs. For me it’s imperative she can draw whatever she wants. According to Instagram she isn’t.
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