Why on Earth Have Instagram Banned The Hashtag #Curvy?

On Wednesday night, Instagram banned the hashtag #curvy, and users of the social media site have decided that they're not going to take it lying down.

Instagram stated that banning #curvy was not a move against body positivity or that they were trying to fat shame people, but rather that the images that were being shared under the hashtag "was being used to share content that violates our guidelines around nudity", but that "the block has nothing to do with the term 'curvy' itself".

When users try and search the term on the app, they're met with a raft of other suggestions containing the word curvy, such as #curvygirl and #curvyfashion.

Users who have been using the curvy hashtag are complaining not that their problem is the fact that while #curvy has been banned, other terms have remained untouched, such as " #vaginas, #clitoris, #dildo, and #bitch", according to Mashable.

Body positivity activitst Sam Roddick said that this move from Instagram is, after the recent #FreeTheNipple controversy, is a backwards step from the company, whose policy seems to be inconsistent. "They have banned images of breast feeding, stretch marks, domestic images of menstruation and classical art works that respectfully portray nude women," Roddick said, "and now they ban the hashtag #curvy. While they allow bitch, fat slag, hookers, thin — this is not a safe platform for women and especially young girls".

However, users have hit back and have started using the hashtag #curvee instead to share their body positivity images.

For now, it doesn't look like Instagram are going to change their minds on this decision, but they're also finding themselves making plenty of headlines for the wrong reasons too on a more regular basis.

What do you think, should Instagram let people use the #curvy hashtag again?

Via Mashable