Facebook recently updated their community standards, effectively limiting how emojis are used—specifically those associated with sexual representations. Shortly after XBIZ columnist Gustavo Turner broke the news of Facebook/Instagram’s updated censorship terms for emoji use, media outlets began lamenting the loss of the two most sexualized emojis: the peach and the eggplant. You can still use them, as long as you don’t pair either one with sexually-suggestive texts, images, or links. A content violation must meet a two-step criteria: (1) an offer/ask for nudes, sex, sexy chats, including a point of contact, and (2) suggestive elements, “contextually specific and commonly sexual emojis or emoji strings,” or any mentions, images or depictions relating to sex, arousal, fetishes, sexual positions, sex activities or strategically covered nude images. Given these constraints, porn stars will have to maneuver carefully around the emoji minefield, avoiding offensive pieces of fruit.
“I remember when Instagram started the eggplant hashtag with well-endowed men,” recalls adult actress Christiana Cinn, who was surprised to hear about the company’s updated terms of censorship. “Why? Why take away an innocent-looking thing because it’s suggestive? C’mon, are grocery stores going to stop selling eggplant now? Everyone knows what they stand for, but they’re also just an emoji.”
The eggplant ban is hardly new. Shortly after Instagram enabled the use of emoji hashtags in 2015, the platform blacklisted the purple squash—a decision that was made following the great flood of #EggplantFriday, a plethora of glorified dick pics, clothed and otherwise. Some credit rapper B.o.B for promulgating dick-pic Friday, since the hashtag #EggplantFriday went viral after his Instagram post featuring eggplants, real and metaphorical. To help users better adhere to the rules, Instagram not only removed hashtags but blocked the offending emoji. BuzzFeed News confirmed at the time, “The eggplant emoji is indeed blocked from search because it consistently is used for content that violates their community guidelines.”
Banishing the eggplant seems like a fruitless endeavor when so many other emojis exist to fulfill those same innuendos. “I’d just use the banana. Or a tomato. Tomatoes are so plump and juicy,” says Christiana Cinn. “I think its OK to acknowledge these things in a mature way, and in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, the emoji is cute.”
Facebook/Instagram have taken the ban a step further by not just blocking the eggplant emoji search but threatening disciplinary action against those who use the fruity emoji in a sexual context. And it feels targeted. Repressing cultural conversations about sex on these widespread social platforms reinforces the same senile patriarchal standards that support sexism.
“Why do we have to chaperone morality? It’s a fucking emoji for crying out loud, what’s next—a maple leaf for cannabis? It’s fucking ridiculous,” comments Alexis Fawx, who’s experienced the discriminatory nature of Instagram firsthand. Though Fawx is an adult actress, she also runs a mainstream coffee business and works at maintaining an image that can seamlessly transition between both roles, and therefore exercises caution in what she posts on Instagram to her 1.6 million followers. Whereas non-sex workers get away with close-up shots of their pubes and nipples thrusting through fishnets, Fawx has been flagged over comparatively tame bikini-clad photos. “They’ll say they do it for the kids, they don’t want to say it’s religion or anything else,” says Fawx. “It sucks because it’s an advertising tool that we can’t always just step away from. We have to use it, that’s where the advertising is.”
With the increasing number of oppressive limitations, Fawx expresses concern for future generations. “People started using emojis so they wouldn’t say ass or dick, and I’m not saying I want to scroll through my timeline and see a bunch of butt holes either but the freedom to express ourselves is getting more and more limited,” offers Fawx. “It’s blatant censorship.”
The 2019 Pornhub Favorite Newcomer Nominee Dee Siren wants to know, who are we really offending with suggestive posts or emojis? “Why are we so oppressed by things like our bodies? Why are these types of things being censored but violence is allowed? Sex in general is targeted,” says Siren. “The United States has more of an issue with sex than violence. I don’t get it.”
Looking at it from a business perspective, adult actor Isiah Maxwell believes financial factors could be motivating the multi-billion-dollar global social media conglomerate towards heightened censorship. “It’s about their bottom line. They’re going to do whatever appeals to most of the users, not just the American culture,” says Maxwell. “At the end of the day, it’ll be: who do you want to please the most? Then our social media will be tailored for that.”
The reigning 2019 XBIZ Performer of the Year says it may just be a matter of time before the world catches up. “We live ahead of the times in how we communicate, and businesses don’t know how to keep up,” says Maxwell.
Restricting a person’s artistic choice of expression on social media feels like a violation of rights to XXX Social Media Star of the Year Lauren Phillips. “People have been communicating with images and symbols throughout history. If people can still cyberbully or harass someone else, then emojis shouldn’t be on a list of priorities,” says Phillips. Censoring her use of emojis would undisputedly alter how and what she posts on social media, but what good would it do? Harm-prevention claims are laughable at best.
When will social media companies accept the obvious but dirty truth? We use their platforms like a virtual public restroom. Like it or not, it’s a public dumping ground with semi-sanitary conditions. Not everyone washes their hands either.
