Facebook bans ‘sexual’ emojis

Facebook and Instagram have banned the use of ‘sexual’ emojis such as eggplant and peach on their platforms.

The guidelines state that the taboo emojis cannot be used to depict sexual activity and nude body parts can't be covered up with the playful symbols.

The move is aimed at cracking down on sexual solicitation on the platforms. The eggplant emoji has been used to suggest a penis, a peach resembles buttocks and water drips are with reference to ejaculation.

However, the social media giants are being criticized for being overly concerned about the hidden meanings of emojis rather than the racism and propaganda that lurks on their sites.

The new community standards are primarily aimed at sex workers who will no longer be able to use the digital icons to sell services on both Facebook and Instagram. But the ban could affect other users who simply use the emojis to joke about or talk about sex. Facebook has also stated that it is against use of the banned emojis to cover genitalia in pictures that are shared on the platforms. In the introduction to this new addition, Facebook states that they draw the line 'When content facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters between adults.'

And there are two new criteria that fall under this section. The first is a user must 'implicitly or indirectly' offer some form of sexual communication, be it 'nude imagery,' sex, or 'sex chat conversations.' The second criteria is that content has to have some form of 'sexually suggestive elements.' Detractors say the new language, under the guise of preventing 'sexual solicitation', restricts even further the posts that sex workers are allowed to share, making them even more vulnerable to targeted harassment campaigns by anti-porn crusaders.

Among the new things that could get someone Instagram's account flagged and/or removed are the eggplant or peach emoji in conjunction with any statement referring to obscene connotation or pictures with digital alterations and any mention of porn being available or any linking to pages offering adult material. "Sometime between September 7 and now, the new language was quietly inserted into the Facebook Community Standards, which are the ultimate arbiter of content for Facebook and Instagram," said XBIZ.The new language was brought to the attention of XBIZ by BBC journalist Thomas Fabbri, who covers sex worker issues.