When are breasts a bad thing?

People on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest express themselves in a variety of ways, so when is nudity art or expression and when does it become inappropriate?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and women around the country encouraged to stay healthy, get regular check-ups and embrace their body. When it comes to social media, however, the amount of skin they can show off will differ depending on the site.

Each social media platform has a different approach when it comes to displaying breasts. On the artistic video site Vimeo, “artistic and non-sexual nudity” is acceptable, whereas YouTube is known for having stricter guidelines.

Head to Twitter and anything goes when it comes to female nudity, whereas Pinterest has a much more conservative policy. However, the site has recently reversed its no-nudity policy. The visually-geared site is one place artists and photographers go to share their work, and when these groups continued to complain about the policy, Pinterest changed its stance; “Pinterest is about expressing your passions and people are passionate about art and that may include nudes. So we’re going to try to accommodate that."

Facebook also has a strict nudity policy, but recognise nudity is, at times, acceptable. The policy reads, “We aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo's David or family photos of a child breastfeeding."

Tumblr is known for its liberal nudity stance. Tumblr says, “Is adult-oriented content allowed on Tumblr? Sure. We have no problem with that kind of stuff. Go nuts. Show nuts. Whatever.”  Blogs are flagged for having adult-oriented content and users are encouraged to use their own judgement.

Any woman uploading a topless picture to Instagram can expect to have it taken down. Recently, celebrity Rihanna had a very public feud with the site when she put up a picture of a magazine cover where she featured topless. The photo was taken down and Rihanna deleted her account. The Free The Nipple Campaign followed. The mission of the campaign was to empower women and stand up against female oppression through censorship - Instagram responded by regulating female nudity even more.