Siobhan Lyons

NAME: Shiv Lyons (she/her)
PLATFORM & USERNAME: Insta @shiv_lyons
CENSORSHIP: Shadow & content ban

What reason was given for your ban?

It goes against “community guidelines.”

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

Showing female body parts which Instagram deems “unsuitable” like female nipples or buttocks regardless of it’s a photograph for research purposes or a painting or a collage that I have done.

Were you able to appeal and what was the response?

Yes. The only response I get is automated like “we have reviewed your appeal but we don’t care” as then they limit your account

What effect has your experience of censorship had on you?

It means I can’t show my work.

I also can’t show my work without censoring it which completely defeats showing it in the first place. It means I can’t gain followers – a following or be part of a conversation because I’m essentially eliminated from it.

So I don’t use social media at all. It’s unfair because I see other accounts’ content and it is far more explicit than mine (I don’t think art or creativity is explicit – it’s a means of expression).

It’s a robotic automated response to an image they deem unsuitable when there is also text and a fuckin context like it has meaning. I feel like the whole way Instagram operates is complete bullshit.

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

That Instagram is like a video game that you can never win and someone is always cheating.