Facebook and Instagram, popular social media platforms, have proscribed the use of some emojis it considered to be “sexually suggestive”.
The social media giant announced the decision following a review of its sexual solicitation community standards.
The new guidelines, which were introduced in August but first spotted by XBiz, an adult industry news website, state that any “contextually specific and commonly used sexual emojis” will no longer be permitted alongside sexual statements.
The new rules state that the “proscribed” emojis — which include the eggplant, peach and water drips – should no longer be used to depict sexual activity and nude body parts can’t be covered up with the playful symbols.
While the aubergine and peach emojis are used to represent foods, some social media users normally use the emojis for the sexual connotations associated with them.
While eggplant is often taken to mean a manhood, peach is considered to represent bum even as water drips implied ejaculation.
The emojis can still be used in captions, but not in a manner that suggests or asks for anything sexual.
“As noted in Section 8 of our Community Standards (Sexual Exploitation of Adults), people use Facebook to discuss and draw attention to sexual violence and exploitation,” Facebook wrote.
“We recognize the importance of and want to allow for this discussion. We draw the line, however, when content facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters between adults.
“We also restrict sexually explicit language that may lead to solicitation because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content and it may impede the ability for people to connect with their friends and the broader community.
The recent development further stretches the ongoing changes taking root across various social media platforms worldwide.
Twitter had on Wednesday placed a ban on all political advertising, noting that such “brings significant risk to politics”.
The development has however, been greeted with mixed reactions.
Copyright 2024 TheCable. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from TheCable.
Follow us on twitter @Thecablestyle