If you've browsed Pinterest's "Everything" categories, you may have come across a scandalous photo or two. And some of you aren't happy about it. The question is: Is the highly public nature of the publishing network itself making this issue problematic?
On Friday, we published a poll that asked our community whether they forgave most of Pinterest's nudity as art, or whether they were offended by nude images in general. We found that the majority of people who have encountered such content consider Pinterest's nude content art. Turns out, however, that's not the point.
Pinterest's section on Pin Etiquette states, "We do not allow nudity or hateful content." Period. Furthermore, Pinterest's terms of service prohibit "any content that…is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, vulgar or offensive." Pinterest community manager Enid Hwang elaborates, "Photographic images that depict full-frontal nudity, fully exposed breasts and/or buttocks are not allowed on Pinterest." That pretty much covers all the bases, right? However, Hwang says, "This does not apply to sculptures, paintings, and other mediums."
For some, Pinterest's highly artistic space blurs the lines between acceptable and prohibited content. Many Pinterest users share images of nudity that they consider art, not pornography, whether that's a photograph of a woman resting in a bathtub, revealing her breasts, or an abstract painting of a person's back and buttocks. However, Pinterest insists that all content should be kept appropriate for general audiences. "Taste is personal and everyone's definition of art and pornographic content is subjective, so our policy is based on a purely objective standard."
The TOS of social networks such as Pinterest and Facebook are are fairly standard, and modeled after those set by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for broadcasters, which restricts publication of "obscenity, indecency and profanity."
Again, according to its TOS, Pinterest strives to restrict all obscene and offensive content. The decision is due to many factors, one of which likely has to do with Pinterest's inherently public nature: Most anyone can create a Pinterest profile and immediately start browsing to her heart's content — that is, if she's over the age of 13.
Still, people are concerned that younger children may be able to create a Pinterest account, and subsequently, view nudity on the network. (A Consumer Reports survey estimated that 7.5 million Facebook users are under 13, despite an identical age policy.)
That's not all Facebook and Pinterest have in common in terms of censorship. Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities states that users "will not post content that: is hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence."
Hwang addresses the similarities between Facebook's and Pinterest's policies, and the two networks' subsequent processes for removing offensive content. "Our flagging system is similar to Facebook's: We rely on users to report content by using the Report button available next to each Pin. After a user selects a reason for the flag and submits the report, the Pin is removed from general views such as our 'Everything' feed. The Pin remains on its designated board unless removed by an administrator.
"Flagged Pins are automatically sent to our review-queue and from there, they're manually reviewed. If a Pin is removed, the original Pin and all Repins are taken down and the Pinners involved are sent a notification about the deletion that contains a link to the source for their personal use."
So, if you're wondering whether that "artistic" photo of your boyfriend in the shower is going to cut it, chances are, not for long. "The majority of pins are flagged correctly and community-policing is effective for us," says Hwang. "We also have internal tools we're iterating on to make review more efficient."
And while it remains to be seen whether the site will soon explode into pornographic mayhem and be subsequently firewalled at the office, for now, things seem relatively under control. On the other hand, if "art" is in the eyes of the beholder, does that mean "porn" is too?
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