Instagram does it again! Takes down photos of Mumbai child being bathed by mother

Even as Instagram apologised for taking down photos of a menstruating woman posted by Canada-based photographer Rupi Kaur, the photo blogging site has now taken down a photo of a child being bathed by her mother at Mumbai’s Nariman Point.

Photojournalist Mandar Deodhar had taken the photo trying to depict a poor child being bathed in public in the backdrop of Mumbai’s sky scrapers that are homes to the uber rich. The photo named ‘This Mumbai and That Mumbai’ had been picked up by the handle Everydaymumbai, which curates photos of the city, only to be taken down by Instagram stating it did not follow the website’s ‘community guidelines’.

Mumbai Mirror quoted the photographer as saying, “I should have at least got a chance to explain my picture. There is a difference between a child being bathed in the open and the real nudity that is all over Instagram.”

Curator of Everydaymumbai Chirag Wakaskar also echoed Deodhar’s thoughts about Instagram’s selective taking down of images that are in no way vulgar.

Mumbai Mirror quoted Wakaskar as saying , “Both were photos depicting the photographers’ viewpoints about society. Besides, there are so many Instagram accounts that post nudity. Why are these posts never pulled down?”

It was only last week that the photo blogging site faced much criticism as they took down Rupi Kaur’s photos depicting what women go through during menstruation.

Though the photos had no nudity or violence Instagram had deleted them. Later Instagram apologies saying, “A member of our team accidentally removed something you posted on Instagram. This was a mistake, and we sincerely apologise for this error.”

The reason behind the criticism being directed at Instagram is the existence of several objectionable content that it has not taken down. While photos of women being objectified and sexualised, and even celebrity nudes are not taken down by Instagram, the deleting of artistic photos comes across as hypocritical and unfair.