Chelsea Handler Instagram Boycott: Image Removals Spark Protests

Comedienne Chelsea Handler is boycotting Instagram after the latter removed a topless photo of herself that she had posted. In the image she is seen riding a horse half-naked – a replica of the same pose taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin also posted in Instagram.

The image was meant to be a parody of Putin's photo and was placed next to it. But it was taken down thrice by Instagram on the ground that it violated its guidelines for community members.

Handler's first post of the topless photo was captioned "Anything a man can do, a woman has the right to do better. #kremlin".

That image was removed almost immediately by Instagram. She then tweeted the image on Twitter with the caption "Taking this down is sexist. I have every right to show I have a better body than Putin."

Her third and final post of the image on Instagram was captioned "If Instagram takes this down again, you're saying Vladimir Putin has more 1st amendment rights than me."

After the third removal, Handler posted an image of her dogs with the caption "You can now find my dogs and my images on Twitter only where my followers have the right to choose. Bye bye instablock."

According to Time, Handler is the latest among a list of celebrities who have left Instagram because their topless photos were removed.

Time likens it to the case of Scout Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, whose topless photos were likewise censored after she posted them on Instagram as part of the "free the nipple" campaign.

The giant social media site Facebook lifted bans on some topless photos dealing with breastfeeding and mastectomies earlier this year. But its policy shift has not affected Instagram, which it owns. Facebook had earlier removed several images that were related to breastfeeding and mastectomies, prompting outrage from women users.

As for Handler she posted the same image removed from Instagram in her Twitter account. There the image has remained online and has not been removed, even though Time notes that it has a 4+ rating compared to Instagram's 12+ rating in the App store.