The issue of nudity on social media has been contentious since sharing images online became a ubiquitous part of contemporary life. There is a gendered slant to the ‘guidelines’ adopted by Instagram, Facebook and other platforms which dictate what can be posted: while a topless man is acceptable, an image of a woman in the same state is not. Such censorship has been the target of campaigns like #FreeTheNipple, which was first coined in 2012 (and there are now four million posts on Instagram featuring that hashtag).
Now, a photographic project from Format is addressing the issue: Terms & Conditions brings together images by over 50 renowned photographers – the list includes Harley Weir, Michael Bailey-Gates, Mayan Toledano, Kayee Kiu and Isaac Anthony – who have responded to the idea of gendered censorship online.