#iPhone, #loseweight, #photography, #hardcore, #petite. What do all of these hashtags have in common?
They are all censored on Instagram. This week the photo sharing social media network revised its list of censored hashtags to include new terms.
The majority of the censored hashtags are of sexual nature or considered to be discriminatory or derogatory terms. Some of the hashtags — #thinspiration, #fatass and #loseweight — are blocked because they can be related to eating disorders or self-image issues.
“Don’t promote or glorify self-harm … Any account found encouraging or urging users to embrace anorexia, bulimia or other eating disorders, or to cut, harm themselves or commit suicide will result in a disabled account without warning,” read the What Not to Do section of the Community Guidelines on Instagram’s website.
The new hashtag feature on Facebook also bans some of the same terms. If Facebook users search for some of the Instagram banned hashtags on Facebook, Facebook will not show results.
However, some potentially offensive hashtags are not banned on Facebook.
“I do agree with the bans on vulgar hashtags because one of my friends has an 11-year-old little sister with an Instagram and she shouldn’t be seeing that,” said sophomore finance major Kellie Blanchard.
Instagram allows people to type in the banned hashtags when they post photos, but if the hashtag is censored then it will not connect to other similar hashtags when it’s posted on a feed.
When people search any of the censored hashtags, the search result area will simply read, “No tags found.”
The censored hashtags can be automatically generated by a mechanism that associates inappropriate content with certain hashtags, Porter said.
“Honestly Instagram is a private entity and I think they should be allowed to censor material,” political communication sophomore Kaylyn Blosser said. “However, do I think it could be grounds for a free speech violation? Yes.”