Woman Booted From Instagram for “Sexually Suggestive” Cake

An Instagram user had her account disabled after she uploaded a photo of an Easter cake that the social site thought was a woman’s breast.

Instagram “Boob” Cake

Instagram has had its share of critics in the legendary (and ongoing) #freethenipple movement, including celebs such as Chelsea Handler and Rihanna. That movement is an attempt to highlight the double standard that exists on Instagram where photos of women’s nipples are usually banned, but the displaying men’s nipples is perfectly fine.

The madness continued recently when a mother was booted for posting a picture of an Easter cake that the censors apparently thought resembled a woman’s breast.

British mother Sue Moseley shared a rather innocuous photo of a simnel cake, a classic Easter confection featuring 11 balls around the edge and a single ball in the center. The 11 balls represent the 11 disciples (minus Judas) and the ball in the center represents Jesus.

The proud mother posted a pic of the cake on Instagram to display her daughter Jenny’s creation. The next time she tried to log onto the social site, however, she was shocked to find that the photo was flagged as sexually suggestive and her account had been disabled for a violation of terms.

Her daughter Fiona told Mashable, “My Mum was really proud of the cake, so shared a photo of it on her Instagram with, ‘Jenny’s fabulous Easter Simnel cake — delicious’.”

“The next time she tried opening up Instagram on her phone she received an Error notification that said her account had been disabled for violating their terms,” she added

It was only after her daughter Fiona tweeted about this fiasco – and sites such as Mashable and BuzzFeed reported it – that Instagram reversed its decision and reactivated the account.

My Mum’s @instagram account was deactivated for posting this Easter Simnel cake. IT’S NOT A BOOB. #BoobGate pic.twitter.com/f9TXJd7lDC

— Fiona Moseley (@fionamoseley) April 4, 2016

As the BBC points out, the removal was likely by a human moderator “because usually users flag inappropriate content to the company and then it’s reviewed by another human moderator.”

Perhaps more surprising is that Instagram initially refused to reactivate the woman’s account even after she appealed their decision.

Instagram later apologized, telling Mashable, “We made a mistake here and restored the account as soon as we learned about it. Our apologies go out to Sue Moseley for the trouble we caused her.”

My Mum’s 1st post as a free Instagrammer! #FreeTheSimnel #BoobCake #BoobGate pic.twitter.com/wuSDLdE0GT

— Fiona Moseley (@fionamoseley) April 5, 2016

Fiona’s Twitter account included a number of hashtags related to the incident, such as #FreeTheSimnel, #BoobCake, and #BoobGate.