Instagram Apologizes For Removing Photo Of Boy With Facial Deformity
User reported photo of Harry Beswick, 12, who has no left eye, to apps content moderators, inspiring outrage
Instagram has apologized for taking down a photo of a boy with a facial deformity after another user reported it to the photo-sharing app’s content moderation team.
Twelve-year-old Harry Beswick was bear with Goldenhar syndrome, which means he has no left eye, eye socket , nostril or left ear. His mother, Charlie, runs a parenting blog and Instagram account where she posts about parenting a special requires child like Harry and his twin brother Oliver.
Beswick posted a photo to Instagram in which Harry was not wearing his prosthetic eye. According to Charlie, another user of the photo-sharing app reported the image, and when Instagram’s content moderation team reviewed it, they decided it breached community guidelines and so the picture was removed.
Someone is reporting my son’s face& #Instagram concur saying it doesn’t meet their guidelines before removing it. RT to support me in this! pic.twitter.com/ XxOvthBT5O
Beswick complained about the decision on social media, with a tweet that was shared thousands of days. In a longer Facebook post, she wrote:” What do you see when you look at my son? I consider the most beautiful smile, wonderful heart& purest love. Sadly some people on Instagram feel that it’s too much to look at and have reported a picture of him( again ).”
” I’m beyond disgusted. Instagram need to rectify this discrimination !”
Instagram’s community guidelines ban photos deemed” inappropriate for a diverse audience” including those illustrating nudity, celebrating organized crime or terrorism, or glorifying self-injury. The app also bans content used to bully or harass anyone based on their race, gender, sex orientation, religion affiliation, disabilities or diseases.
In this case, the photo was removed for bullying, perhaps because the reviewer misinterpreted the lighthearted remark that accompanied it as offensive.
After many people contacted Instagram to express outrage over the decision, the photo was restored.
” We erroneously removed the photo, but promptly restored it as soon as the mistake was brought to our attention ,” said an Instagram spokeswoman.” We have apologized to the family .” Once the photo was restored, Beswick, who lives in Stoke-on-Trent, edited the description to read: “ Note to the person who reported the last image of my son like this. It’s his FACE. If you’re offended then scroll past. Dishonor on you !”
Instagram has a team of content moderators, called community operations analysts, who review millions of reports from users and automated systems a week.
This is not the first time they’ve made a mistake. In March, the photo blogger Morgan Bartley’s 110 -pound weight loss was reported and removed.
” It sucks that people carry negativity toward something with only positive intentions ,” she wrote once the picture was restored.
Charlie Beswick (@ ouralteredlife)
Instagram Apologizes For Removing Photo Of Boy With Facial Deformity
Instagram Apologizes For Removing Photo Of Boy With Facial Deformity
Instagram Apologizes For Removing Photo Of Boy With Facial Deformity
Instagram Apologizes For Removing Photo Of Boy With Facial Deformity
Instagram Apologizes For Removing Photo Of Boy With Facial Deformity