Far too often I see that the social media accounts of both photographers and models are restricted and, in the worst case, blocked for showing naked skin. This also happened to me as a nude model and my account was subject to restrictions. So I wrote to Instagram’s customer service countless times to explain my point of view or to ask for the block to be lifted. However, I had no chance to fight the algorithm and the house rules of the giant corporation. My hands were tied.

The fact is that art has always fallen into the censorship trap when it comes to too much naked skin. This is also what happened to the oldest Stone Age sculpture created called "Venus of Willendorf", which was banned from social media websites because this sculpture shows a naked, faceless woman with huge breasts. Regardless of whether the Venus is a prehistoric work of art, the image of the female body was classified as "pornographic" by the algorithm.

Like the sculpture, countless talented artists are currently experiencing the same fate, and in the end it only highlights the fact that being naked is still largely associated with a great deal of shame. It is considered immoral in many cultures, even though the subject of nudity has been part of cultural history all over the world. From the Stone Age to the present day, art is full of portrayals of nudity. And yet spirits are constantly divided on the subject. And they should, because art is supposed to be thought-provoking and, as we know, it is in the eye of the beholder. But we should not leave the decisions on this fundamental cultural question to a computer-based algorithm – 1 1 0 1 0 – which too often rates artistic works as pornographic/explicit, deletes the post and thus prevents necessary discussions on social media.

In frame and words: @lafleurdelamer

Also in frame: @violawolkenbruch