Katie Budenberg

NAME: Katie Budenberg
PLATFORM & USERNAME: Insta – @katie_budenberg
CENSORSHIP: Content Ban

What reason was given for your ban?

Sexual content.

Why do you think your post(s) was censored?

You could see the side of my boob (no nipple).

Were you able to appeal and what was the response?

Yes – the post was not put back up.

What effect has your experience of censorship had on you?

It’s so emotionally draining to be fighting against the sexualisation of female nudity and have Instagram take all the posts down. They say the content is sexual when in reality it’s just me existing in my body showing other humans it’s okay to not look like an airbrushed model in a magazine. Hours and hours go into content as well as the emotional labour, only for Instagram to remove it.

What’s one thing you want people to know about this topic?

The naked body is not inherently sexual! There are many times that a body is nude/not wearing many clothes that are not sexy in the slightest: bikini wax, giving birth, doctor check-ups, showering. We need to stop sexualising nakedness.