Censorship on Twitter (or how to post nudity without losing your account!)

A nude self portrait from my open access project http://www.scottyh.com/open-access

Yes, I publish photos of naked people on the internet and on Twitter. Often self portraits, I like to be in control of what I present to an audience and I do not like to be censored by anyone but myself. In deciding what I publish I consider my audience carefully and the conditions set out by the owners of any publishing platform. I do this because after all my time investment I do not want to lose that audience – I am also aware that many in that audience would not want to lose me.

One purpose of this blog and my tweeting is to promote the freedom to be naked in as many places as possible and prod those who feel reluctant to expose themselves to feel comfortable naked in front of others. While being vehemently anti-censorship, what I am not doing is running an anti-censorship campaign. If I were, then one possible and quite legitimate strategy for me would be to run a campaign of disobedience of the rules to get myself banned. But that is not what I am about. I do not wish to be banned.

Twitter allow me to play in their space and I have no wish to abuse that privilege. And why should I feel aggrieved anyway? After all, when it comes to naked human beings, there is nothing that I create that Twitter would not permit me to publish. What is more, although I do not follow such accounts, it seems Twitter is in fact tolerant of the publication of all but illegal pornography, so it more than meets my anti-censorship principles.

Unfortunately, despite what I have just said, people publishing harmless non-sexual nudity manage to get their Twitter accounts suspended! If you are here to participate in the regular promotion of the naturist lifestyle, foster followers and stay connected then it is more than a little careless to lose your account.

There are two basic rules to follow to steer your content safely through the sometimes highly strung world of Twitter:

1. Do not include nudity in your profile pic or banner image.
2. Mark any tweets including nudity as ‘sensitive’.

Rule 1. is of critical importance.

My own banner image twitter.com/allablur includes nudity – Twitter’s rule is that you “may not use pornographic or excessively violent media in your profile image or header image”. Be sensible – do not test Twitter’s interpretation of what is pornographic by needlessly posting a conventional naturist image that contains genitals or even breasts. While not pornographic, because such images are projected into another context (twitter users’ following and followers lists) then such images may be put in front of prude users who have their ‘sensitive media’ filter turned on to avoid nudity in tweets. You will eventually get reported and then things are left somewhat to chance in the hands of a twitter administrator who may be pre-disposed towards preventing nudity being put in front of those who have elected not to see it.

Following Rule 2. is less important – the worst that can happen for infringing Rule 2. is that you can get the sensitive media setting imposed on you through Twitter forcing all your content to be marked as such.

I know that what I have written here throws up some queries. So here are some supplementary questions that I find being put by naturists on twitter…

1. What on earth is ‘sensitive media’?

Unlike the rules for profile images, https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169199  refers to nudity rather than pornography:

“By appropriately marking your media settings, Twitter can identify potentially sensitive content that others users may not wish to see, such as violence or nudity. If you intend to regularly post such content, we request that you adjust your media setting.”

2. There is pornography appearing in my stream, how do I get it deleted?

If not marked as sensitive, then you may report it. You will need to turn off your “Do not inform me before showing media that may be sensitive” setting to find out if it is marked or not. This action will get the image marked as ‘sensitive’ but not necessarily removed from twitter.

If the publisher already marked it as sensitive, again you can report it – but since it is probably published within Twitter’s rules they are unlikely to take any action. They may well suggest that if offended you simply stop following that account, which is what I would suggest too!

3. There is pornography on Twitter, how do I get it deleted?

With great difficulty given Twitter’s current stance. If it offends you don’t go looking for it!

4. Some people are posting pornography while pretending to be naturists hence hence associating naturism with sexual activity. How can I stop that?

This seems to be of concern to many. I would suggest that you think carefully about giving them the oxygen of publicity by calling them out for what they do. Like it or not there are far more people surfing the internet looking for porn than looking for innocent naturist pics – a consequence of your actions is that you are sending more followers in their direction.

Assuming that they have sensible profile and banner images, there is still one route that may be open. Many such profiles entirely consist of stolen images so you can go after them for copyright infringement – see https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311. For example, one account promoting one interpretation of naturism that publishes occasional porn carries the profile image of an actress. I doubt that it is actually that actress producing the tweets so if concerned she could get in touch with her photographer who would be in position to take action.

Rules are different on facebook but I have had somebody’s facebook account removed for using a photo I took of a friend as her profile image. The snag is that it is the photographer who normally has to pursue such claims and the process can be convoluted.

5. What if I don’t change my sensitive media setting when posting nudes?

See https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169199. You may get a warning and you may have your default setting changed for you but you are most unlikely to be banned.

6. Where do I find Twitter’s rules?

https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311

https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169199

7. How do I change my sensitive media settings?

Go to the ‘Tweet Media’ heading in the ‘Content’ section of your ‘Profile and Settings’. On a standard twitter web page, this is got at by clicking on your profile image at the top right.

Good luck, and unless you are shallow, insincere and exploitative publisher of photos of individuals enjoying what they assumed was private nudity, don’t get banned!

 

 

 

 

Not a naturist (?)

I am not sure that anyone will notice but I have just changed the tagline of this blog from “A blog that is about more than walking. And more than freedom exemplified by naturism.” to “A blog that is about more than walking, and more than the freedom to be naked.”

On my separate blog that deals with the art of my photography I have recently added a post The Private Exhibition which was a difficult write because it dealt with some very personal body issues which are a big part of what is behind my very personal nude self portrait photography. My recourse to certain naturist activities thirty five years ago was a quite separate way of helping deal with the same issues.

In that separate blog article I posted these three images and the one that is important here is the final one, largest if viewed on a monitor, which I entitled “Not a lovers’ tiff”…

The ‘prints’ are image manipulations, the walls actually carry rather more modest images.

In the garden in Kentish Town

I wrote about that image: “I need to say, for those that do not know me, but maybe primarily for those that do, that in making this particular artistic statement I’m not afraid to construct some images which have very little to do with the way I really am. In this final image, the title is a clue, because although there seems to be a dispute and there is some erotic charge between the two men, they are not lovers. It is merely a provocative way of presenting myself and my internal arguments over content, and right now it appears that he who is not afraid of the erotic is the more confident presence.”

The content I refer is the images that I choose to make public online as representing my art and the internal argument was one that also raged in my head over the title of the image because what I originally had in mind was “Not a naturist tiff”.

This image is me. Not lovers. And not a naturist. It’s not even the way I am at home. It’s a fabrication representing an argument with myself, and my self that decided that I am not a naturist was the self that won.

I can feel like a naturist, I certainly act as a naturist should act – a naturist beach, in saunas or swims etc. But nevertheless I have been told that I am not a true naturist because, for example, in a particular situation I did not have a towel to sit on. There you have it. QED. Not a naturist.

No doubt the same person would tell me that I am not a true naturist because I don’t go clothes free at home. The same person might also take exception to my eclectic art photography (especially if I am ‘not afraid of the erotic’), but what I create there is a world away from naturist photography and nothing to do with how I quite naturally conduct myself when I am engaging in naturist activities. Indeed, the way I conduct myself is quite different to many ‘naturists’ who abuse the word as a cover for their swinging activities.

Anyway, in deciding not to tag myself as an exemplifier of naturism and merely a seeker of the freedom to be naked I think I am going to avoid some arguments, but more importantly I think it will allow readers to understand better who I am.

Do feel free to substitute ‘nudist’ for every use of the word ‘naturist’!

Losing control of my image, 7 lessons from 2015

At the end of 2013 I first wrote about losing control of my image as being one of the hazards of participation in nude events in public. It was a little tongue in cheek as I hardly have an image to lose control of, but it did raise some serious issues as well.

I am revisiting the subject again looking back on 2015, a year when in retrospect I think I could have done rather more in this direction. After all, one naked walk, one naked bike ride and one naked visit to an art exhibition could seem a bit of a damp squib, but I am aware that for many this could be considered the height of (mis)adventure.

Thinking of a specific photographic image, control has two aspects, control of what is captured, and control of who gets to see it. Clothed or unclothed, if you are in a public space then you have to be able to deal with the fact that you are liable to be photographed and that photograph could finish up anywhere.

Lesson 1: Be careful who you ‘pose’ with

My local World Naked Bike Ride (the Brighton WNBR) is one of the oldest and largest in the UK and I have participated for the last three years. Like all WNBR’s I take photos of other participants on my journey around my home town centre and as well as my compilation of my favourite WNBR photos here you will find all of my 2015 Brighton WNBR photos here.

Now with over 20,700 views this is Faye Kinnit’s ‘most interesting’ photo on flickr and that is of over 1,200 excellent photos she has captured at WNBR rides.  You’ll have to be a member of flickr to see the discourse around this image there, but the speculation is that it’s my little Fujifilm camera that is garnering the attention. That’s hilarious photographer to photographer banter for you!

The good news is that I really like this image. I happened to be in the background and had just looked up – and my posing mechanism had not had time to kick in!

Lesson 2: Don’t allow yourself to be smoothtalked into sharing live naked walk images on twitter

This rule is especially true when you are in a silly ‘pose’ and the photo is being tweeted by Emma James @Socksoff1 one of the leading lights in the UK naturist movement! For the record, the caption competition was won by @TweedGoblin with “Emma help, someone tied my shoelaces together!”

Lesson 3: Do not engage with such images yourself!

Ah well, too late now.

Lesson 4: Don’t be fooled into thinking that sunglasses render you anonymous

Funk Dooby on flickr can always be relied upon to get an excellent image or two of most Brighton naked bike riders. This one got an airing on the public Brighton WNBR facebook group, judiciously cropped to avoid facebook censorship at the second posting.

Lesson 5: When riding a bike naked try and keep the handlebars between your bits and cameras.

Ah well, that advice doesn’t really work. But seriously, many of us guys have to accept that riding a bike naked is just not flattering! But in the end the messages from the WNBR are all important – for all its joyful exuberance, at heart it’s protest and demonstrations are not beauty parades.

Lesson 6: Don’t be fooled into thinking that wearing a wig renders you anonymous

It’s about as useless as a bike helmet. And less safe if you are on a bike. It is however perfect for swanning around an art exhibition. This is an image captured by Loredana Denicola and she has a blog about the Forbidden event where I feature in several more images – but this is the one where I was aware of the importance of keeping my wig straight, so this is the one you get here!

Lesson 7 – Setting up a shot can be worthwhile

Here you see me helping a damsel in distress. Now that’s the sort of shot that we can approve of getting published anywhere!

But yes, it’s a bit of a cheat in the context of me losing control of my image because I carefully set this shot up with Peter controlling the shutter. In fact Emma and I then had to get back up the slope which was off the route of our walk, so the whole exercise was artificial. But having started with the first favourite image of me from the year I wanted to finish with the second.

And yes. There will be other photos out there, and videos – but that’s your lot for 2015. No doubt I will return at the end of this year with another self indulgent exercise in losing control…

 

Walking to Fairlight Glen naturist beach

If you came here for detail of how to walk down to the naturist Beach at Fairlight Glen, Hastings or what the beach looks like when you get there then you are going to be partially disappointed. If you want to enjoy some of the natural beauty of the walk there kindly set off by my co-walker, Richard Collins, then you are in the right place.

For the route (to what some incorrectly know as Fairlight Cove), go to advice from the Saturday Walkers’ Club  or British Naturism

Access is through the Country Park to the East of Hastings. We took a route from free street parking to approach the Park from a different angle to what you’ll find in the route advice links but eventually our path met the usual route from the car park and it is here that we stripped off to make the final naked descent to the beach down a spectacular wooded ravine. You probably cannot detect that the rock face in the photo above is decorated with sprinkles of falling water – standing underneath it to admire it is quite wonderful.

There has not been much rain recently but the route we took was quite muddy. You do not have to use tree trunks to ford the stream as the intrepid Richard did but any wetter and our trainers would have been inadequate.

Eventually the route opens up and the sea comes into view on the other side of an area with a single tree in a clearing. Richard talked about the scenery being similar to the Greek Islands and as the vegetation changed as we approached the beach I could not disagree.

We spotted the remains of wooden steps painted with a notice “Naturists on beach ahead!”. This whole area is prone to landslips and as I witnessed more and more signs of recent earth movement I became a little more wary of where I was stepping.

The reward is the beach itself. Sadly the tide was all the way in so respect for the privacy of the 10 or so naturists squeezed into the remaining section of shingle meant that I did not take a photograph. We moved a little further on to the rocks and took a picnic lunch before indulging in a couple of hours of sunbathing and clambering around followed by a final swim.

I commented to Richard about how the landscape loosely brought to mind Antonioni’s film Zabriskie Point. Those who have seen the film and are aware of other aspects of Fairlight Glen will know what I mean.

I could come here to spend all day doing some serious photography of my monochrome art nude variety – more at the link. I did indulge briefly, setting up my tripod after finding these two marbled rocks to nestle into.

We walked up what was a completely different route. It involved crossing the Zabriskie like hinterland to ascend over and above the East side of the bay. This is a longer route but much drier terrain because it is open to the sun. The climbing is in my view more hazardous and the route is very difficult to pick out. But if I can do it….

Again we were naked perhaps half of the route back to the car before Richard said, as we were approaching more wooded terrain, that we might start bumping into people. I have different sensibilities to Richard on this matter. I prefer walking naked in more open country so approaching walkers can be spotted and do not have a sudden shock of a close up encounter with a naked person. I also prefer then, in most circumstances, to cover up, something that is not practical when bumping into someone at close quarters. We walked on for about five minutes before I chose to get dressed, as did Richard probably out of deference to what he is aware of as being my different perspective.

Of course we met nobody until we were practically back at the car, leaving me feeling to be a bit of a wuss, but with a very pleasant nude four and a half hours behind me the extra sun was probably best avoided!

 

Who’s disgusting?

This is the valley of the River Ouse on its journey from Alfriston to the sea at Cuckmere Haven. About 15 minutes earlier and a kilometre upstream occurred a little altercation which meant that all was not as peaceful as it seems. I was out walking the countryside naked with Richard and Will and after a mid-walk pint we were looking for a place to undress again to continue. We strode onto a wooden bridge over the river which Will declared that was a suitable place to get naked and then he proceeded to do so….

A male voice rang out. At first it seemed jokey. We looked around and there 5 – 10 metres away partially hidden on the river bank under the bridge was a burly middle aged man will a large video camera on a low tripod. The camera was pointed at the bridge.

Soon it became apparent that this man was in no mood for humour. He was disgusted. And offended. And ranting. Will in particular took the bait but both he and Richard tried to argue rationally back. The man stormed onto the bridge, now filming into each of our faces from one foot away talking, about the BBC, calling the police, and that old anti-naturist fallback ‘the children’.

Of course there were no children anywhere in sight, not just here, but on our whole walk.

There were three grown up people who came from nowhere and crossed the bridge. Being grown ups, it was pretty clear who they thought was acting in the most ridiculous manner. The third person was driving a small motorised buggy which served to take us off the far side of the bridge and the incident closed as we went on our way.

A mix of the after effects of this altercation on my head and the now cool wind kept me clothed. Richard stayed clothed too as we walked to the bridge as Cuckmere Haven. Will, who is hardier than us, walked nude all the way. We passed nobody on route. No police were there to meet us. Perhaps they had read the new Crown Prosecution Services guidance making it clear that we three naturists were involved, in the way we did it, in a perfectly legitimate activity.

Thinking back, it is curious that we did not question why exactly this individual was nestled down on the riverbank with his camera pointed up from below at this bridge; the open sides meant he saw and filmed Will naked. As a photographer myself I can imagine another day when a different person might shout down from the bridge at him, calling him a pervert for wanting to film from below children crossing this bridge. It was he that raised the issue of children, not us.

Some people refuse to understand that there are people with legitimate jobs or hobbies that mean they use ‘big cameras’ in unusual places. Some people even respond irrationally or aggressively to this. Equally, people do not understand that  walking is a legitimate form of nude recreation for the naturist. Thinking the worst of somebody who is merely different is what disgusts me.

This incident soured our walk a little. Two hours earlier this was the fantastic view we had over Lullington Heath.