Censored by Instagram, pheasant shooter’s photos... of her dinner
‘Society has become way too sensitive’
A MOTHER who feeds her family with game animals and birds she shoots herself has blasted Instagram for ‘censoring’ her photos of a venison sandwich and of unplucked pheasants.
Rachel Carrie, 35, is a former vegetarian who now champions a ‘field-to-fork’ lifestyle – which she says is healthier and far more ethical than buying and eating factory-farmed meat and poultry.
But she was appalled to see that a photo of an open muntjac deer sandwich – with the meat cooked pink – that she was using to promote a recipe book had been flagged as ‘sensitive content’.
Members of her 58,000-strong Instagram following could not immediately see the photo but instead were shown a message warning them they may find it ‘offensive or disturbing’ and had to click on ‘see photo’ to view it.
A similar fate befell another photo which she posted on Instagram of herself standing next to some unplucked pheasants on her kitchen table along with the message: ‘Guess what’s for tea’. Miss Carrie yesterday claimed they were just two of the most recent examples of what she considers to be ‘censorship’ and a result of society becoming ‘way too sensitive’ and squeamish.
She also told how a photograph of a rare-cooked joint of roast venison shared on Facebook was reported to the social media platform ‘for containing graphic violence’.
Instagram uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human review to monitor its content for images which people might find distressing.
It then applies what it calls the ‘sensitivity screen’ so people can decided whether to look at it or not but that does not mean they cannot look at it all, a source at the photo sharing app said.
On Facebook, which owns Instagram, users can report a post or photo by clicking an icon on their screen. It is then reviewed by
Facebook to see if it violates its ‘community standards’ – which relate to authenticity, safety, privacy and dignity. Reporting something on Facebook does not guarantee that it will be removed.
Miss Carrie, who was a vegetarian as a child, said: ‘It’s ridiculous – it’s just food. I don’t see what the difference is between someone posting a picture of their dinner, as people do all the time, and what I post.’
She added: ‘It seems like people are offended if an animal still looks like an animal. Society has become way too sensitive and easily offended and we are pandering to that. People need to be responsible for where their food is coming from and realistic about just how environmentally sound or animal-friendly it is.
‘My personal message is one of animal welfare, ethical food sourcing, nature conservation and thought for the environment.
‘The whole message behind what I’m doing is wholesome. So why on earth would anyone try to censor it?’ Miss Carrie, who has a 32year-old partner Mark and a teenage son, works as an environmental impact assessor to reduce food waste. She lives in a barn conversion in Yorkshire, and hunts to fill the fridge with the consent of farmers and landowners.
She added: ‘Managing deer is managing the environment as – left unmanaged – deer populations would grow to a point that the environment couldn’t sustain.
‘There’s an abundance of wild venison in the UK and I’m passionate about getting it on more plates across the country.
‘Muntjac deer are invasive, they breed all year round and the population is exploding. I’m trying to get more people to consider muntjac in their diets and here Instagram is censoring a photo of a muntjac sandwich.’
After the Mail contacted Instagram about Miss Carrie’s concerns, a spokesman said: ‘The sensitivity screens were applied in error on this occasion and have been removed.’