Instagram Bans #Curvy From its Search Terms

The word, Curvy, has been added to Instagram’s banned list of search terms, which include #sex, #nude and #thinspo.

A spokesperson for the picture sharing application told Buzzfeed that the hashtag #curvy is not searchable as it was being used to share images and videos that violated Instagram’s community guidelines around nudity.

Users were left puzzled by the decision, saying that the body-positive term, curvy, was harmless when compared to the banned hashtag #thinspo, which glorified pro-anorexia sites.

This adds to Instagram’s long history of banning users and terms for, what many views as, arbitrary reasons. Inconsistencies with the site’s censorship was highlighted by artist Sam Roddick, who was banned from the site for her photo of a cornice shaped like a vagina.

Body shaming and explicit terms that occasionally portray nudity, like #fatso and #penis, are still searchable on the application.