TOO SEXY? One of five Pandora Deluxe latex fashion images rejected for Instagram Shopping use by Facebook, due to alleged ‘adult content’ – story below (model: Lara Aimée; photo: Mew-Chiel)
LATEX vs SOCIAL MEDIA: MORE CASE STUDIES
More unsettling tales of latex Faceblocking and Instabanning
BELOW: More model, photographer and designer accounts of latex vs social media skirmishes. Perhaps some bans could have been avoided with a better grasp of the rules. But the great majority point to endemic platform failings: over-reliance on automated decisions; vague language capable of multiple interpretations; failure to provide proper channels of complaint and redress; and blatant unfairness in the enforcement of platform guidelines, favouring big brands and VIP users.
BENEATH these case studies, the UK fet scene’s favourite lawyer Myles Jackman looks at the kind of social media issues where legal help could bring resolution
ALEJANDRA’s Darenzia ‘hand bra’ was banned
ALEJANDRA GUERRERO
Photographer (USA)
Alejandra Guerrero, aka erotic/fetish photographer Corporate Vampire, says she’s occasionally had images taken down before during her nine years on Instagram. “But very little, because I censor my work,” she explains.
Her most recent problem was in October last year, over this image (above) of Darenzia which, in Alejandra’s view, “had nothing to be censored about it”.
“I received a notification on Instagram that I had violated the community guidelines and that (because another image got reported some months ago) my account was in danger of getting deleted.
“I tried to go through their menu to say it was an error but they made it almost impossible. I couldn’t find how and I just let it go. There are no nipples, she is holding her breasts. I guess some people consider this offensive?”
corporatevampire.com
instagram.com/corporatevampire
ELENA LOVEBITE image deleted by Instagram
ELENA LOVEBITE, Model (Netherlands)
Elena has been shadowbanned on Instagram, and numerous photos have been taken down. “It’s still happening now,” she says.
“And the reasons they give are sexual content and nudity — even if I’m fully clothed.” The image above is an example of the kind of posts by Elena that have been deleted.
instagram.com/elena.lovebite
facebook.com/ElenaLovebiteOfficial
LATEX LADY P contested her sexual content ban
LATEX LADY P, Model (UK)
Latex Lady P is a hobbyist latex model and brand ambassador who has been “promoting latex fashion and body confidence for women in the mature age range” on Instagram for the past two years.
She says that although she’s a dental professional obliged to maintain strict standards of behaviour, this didn’t stop Instagram disabling her account (with 79.3k followers) last October without warning, for nudity and sexual content.
“If my content contained nudity or sexual context, I would have been struck off the dental register,” she says.
“My content is purely to promote latex fashion, and to lose my account knowing I did not breach any regulations has caused me a great deal of angst.”
Lady P adds that she has been “subjected to vicious trolling and bullying on both Facebook and Instagram”.
But reporting these incidents has, she claims, never produced “any support or feedback” from the platforms.
She has also been a victim of “imposters who have stolen my content and set up fraudulent mistress accounts to gain money from people.” IG, she claims, has been “slow to do anything about these fake accounts”.
As a result of the Instagram takedown she sought legal advice, and was subsequently able to get her account reinstated — one small victory for latex vs social media.
facebook.com/latexladyp
instagram.com/latexladyp
MADMOISELLE JOU: unable to restore her Insta
MADMOISELLE JOU, Model (France)
Madmoiselle Jou has been modelling for about five years, not only wearing latex for photoshoots but also mixing it with regular clothes in her everyday life.
Despite “always making sure to follow the terms and conditions”, her Instagram account was suspended last October with no warning.
She was told her account had been disabled for violating IG’s terms. “Which I’ve never done,” she insists. “Never posted nudity or topless (unless censored to respect the rules) or violence.
“I felt they basically decided that latex fashion was somehow something they didn’t want on their platform any more.”
At time of publication, she has still not been able to get her Instagram account restored.
twitter.com/MadmoiselleJou
instagram.com/explore/madmoisellejou
MICHELLE’s Land Of The Free? was Instabanned
MICHELLE MILDENHALL
Latext Artist (UK)
Michelle is celebrated on the UK fetish scene and beyond for her minimalist, pop art-style portraits meticulously constructed from sheet latex. Her work appeals to art lovers and rubber fetishists alike.
Her most successful creations to date are her QE1 and QE2 portraits, depicting Her Majesty sporting two subversive looks.
However, she is also renowned for her many striking images of ballgagged women, which have lately caused her problems.
“I’ve now been shadowbanned three times by Instagram,” Michelle says, “so I can’t hashtag, which affects who can see my work. I was also warned twice last year about my account.
“I’ve had to take down every piece of art with a ballgag in it, and anything else that is remotely sexual. My work is not crude yet I am constantly targeted. I’ve had to censor my gag art in order to make it acceptable.”
michellemildenhall.com
instagram.com/michellemildenhall_artist
PANDORA DELUXE (see pic at top)
MAGDALENA, Designer
Back in April 2020, Magdalena (aka Mags) found herself unexpectedly unable to get some of her designs approved for the Facebook catalogue for Instagram shopping.
Facebook informed her that a number of her latex fashion images fell foul of its Adult Product or Services and/or Adult Content guidelines.
She managed to tweak most of her listings to get them added, but was left with five images — four bras and a skirt (including the Noa Cage Bra and Cage Skirt at the top of this page) — rejected for Dynamic Ads.
Some months later she added a few new items to see what would happen.
“I decided to remove any fetish words that might cause any problems, for example latex, harness etc,” Mags says. “And it seems they were approved within a few minutes.”
However, she points out, the listing she added had “only mannequin product shots, not latex models or semi-trans latex that could cause a problem”.
pandoradeluxe.com
instagram.com/pandoradeluxe
instagram.com/mew_chiel
instagram.com/the_lara_aimee
PIPPA LATEX shorts broke Facebook nudity rule
PIPPA, Model and Designer
Pippa Latex (Canada)
Pippa reports several incidents of censorship of her work on social media platforms. The first time it happened, she was attempting to run a Facebook ad for her clothing line, using the red latex shorts image shown above.
“I was told my ad ‘violated community standards for nudity’ and could not be run,” she says. “But there is no nudity in the picture. Everything is covered except for the smallest hint of bum cheek.”
In another incident, she tried to post a picture of a model wearing a translucent latex dress, but with the ‘essentials’ covered by pasties and underwear. It was still taken down for violating community standards.
Here, it seems, she had run into a familiar latex vs social media problem caused by images of transparent or translucent latex, which AI frequently ‘reads’ as nudity.
Pippa admits she also responded to an enquiry about clothes for ‘dancers’ by saying, “Yes, we are a sex worker-positive company”. Red rag to a bull, that one.
facebook.com/pippalatex
pippalatex.com (coming soon)
PIXIE hand bra pix led to permanent shadowban
PIXIE, Model (Italy)
Professional model Pixie recently won a Top Fetish Model of the Year award and describes herself as “quite involved in the international fetish community”.
“I have had numerous photos blocked for ‘sexual content’ on Instagram,” she says.
“Before the rules were changed, I had many photos removed where I covered my breasts with my hands, despite that being technically allowed in the old rules.”
Having at least half-a-dozen images of ‘hand bras’ removed over the years has led, she claims, to her account being in a permanent shadowban.
“To tag or search for me, people have to type in my whole name before I appear, which vastly limits the traffic on my account. Insta has also threatened to remove my account, which is terrifying as I get all of my work from there!”
When #latex was temporarily banned, she removed “every single hashtag” from her posts, and deleted “any photos that might be considered sexual”.
But despite this, she reveals, “I have remained in my permanent shadowban all these months, and am unable to use business tools such as paid partnerships, which greatly affects my ability to work.”
witchypixie.com
instagram.com/witchy_pixie
MILEY’s vagina dentata got Venus Insta deleted
VENUS PROTOTYPE
Designer and Stylist (USA)
Venus, who seems to dress most fitter US celebs in latex these days, was the centre of possibly the highest-profile, celebrity-related latex takedown and lawyer-assisted restoration of 2020.
It happened after she created the red latex vagina dentata catsuit for Miley Cyrus, which she wore in the video for her Mother’s Daughter single.
When publicity images from the video emerged, Venus — as is her habit — reposted them on her IG account.
Instagram responded by suspending Venus’s account, while — quelle surprise — leaving Miley’s own IG account containing the images untouched.
Venus is not given to publicly complaining about things. However, she has provided us with a brief statement about taking on Instagram. She says:
“Since my team and I work with the entertainment industry, we have a business lawyer that handles all of our contracts.
“When our account went down, he knew the links to send a postal legal letter to the IG office, followed by multiple messages. It took about three weeks. It was a process.”
The process Venus refers to is one that many more members of the latex community may find themselves considering if they want to get the upper hand in a latex vs social media dispute. Especially if social media platforms persist with what seems on the evidence to be widespread mistreatment of the latex community.
LATEX vs SOCIAL MEDIA: LEGAL ADVICE
Myles Jackman: ‘The Fetish Community are early adopters, but also first to be purged from platforms’
Myles Jackman is an English lawyer who specialises in defending cases related to pornography. After his first obscenity case in 2008, he became Backlash pro bono legal adviser. He has campaigned against UK’s outdated obscenity laws and for recognition and rights of BDSM, LGBTQ, adult industry and sex work communities.
Below, Myles summarises the issues with social media he sees affecting the fetish community, and outlines the possibilities of getting legal help to resolve them
Like many alternative sexual scenes, the fetish community are early adopters.
MYLES: ‘Now we are all Facebook employees, to be dismissed from the platform at will’
They populate platforms, add content, and bring in followers — only to be the first to be purged from commercial platforms through an increasingly enforced US notion of sexual morality, imposed upon adults under the pretext of child protection.
This can seem hypocritical when many kinksters with children are perfectly used to separating their consensual adult sexual private lives from their family responsibilities.
Nowadays we’re all ‘Facebook employees’ to be dismissed from the platform at will without proper employment rights protection.
Losing an Instagram account can have serious economic consequences; without recourse to a transparent and fair appeals process entire businesses can be lost.
I know latex designers, professional dommes and pole-dancers who’ve monetised platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and OnlyFans, only to struggle to navigate these issues and maintain their incomes.
In the current economic and social climate it seems particularly cruel and unfair, when for the majority of people, Facebook is their main interface with the internet.
Likewise, identity theft through catfishing or deep-faking can cause serious problems, where the person whose identity is stolen may be more heavily punished than the culprit.
Finally, privacy violations like calculated campaigns of harassment or ‘outing’ by malicious actors remains an ever-present concern.
Having volunteered pro bono legal advice for Backlash for more than 15 years, we have been able to assist many people in the UK fetish scene who have faced these issues. These are people who may have felt intimidated by, for example, contacting the police in the case of criminal issues, or hiring a lawyer to challenge Instagram.
If you have been subjected to a Facebook lockout, lost your Insta account, or been deactivated on Twitter, please feel free to contact me on law@mylesjackman.com for some free legal advice and to discuss your options.
Special thanks to PSYCATT for all her work on this article!
Special thanks are due to Psycatt (left) for her magnificent contribution to The Fetishistas’ Latex vs Social Media investigation. She did much more than just contribute her personal tale of woe on page 1 of this article. She actually provided the initial inspiration for the whole project, then continued supporting it throughout its long preparation and production stages. Taking on the role of editorial researcher, she created the questionnaire which went to all the interviewees featured on these three pages. She then liaised personally with most of those featured here on page 3 in order to secure their responses and feed them through to our editing and production processes. I’m very grateful to her for her diligence and enthusiasm. It really wouldn’t have happened without her. Tony Mitchell, Editor
NOW READ THIS ARTICLE’S COMPANION PIECE BEYOND LATEX: THE BIGGER PICTURE
Tags: Artists, Business Matters, Censorship, Designers, Fetish Fashion, Fetish Photography, Latex, Models, Social Media
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