I’m finding it really difficult to write this post and I think it’s because I have so many emotions swirling around in my head. But before the weekend starts, I wanted to share what’s happened and also wanted to thank you all for your encouraging comments. More than anything it is this overwhelming outpouring of support that has made me so emotional.
Yesterday evening my Instagram account was disabled due to ‘violating the community guidelines‘. After a bit of research I discovered that if you receive too many reports of ‘inappropriate’ images, it sends a red flag to the Instagram team and their automated service will disable your account entirely, without warning and without notice. Last week I received five different emails from Instagram to notify me of these reports and to tell me they had removed images from my feed. They don’t tell you which images they’re referring to, and even though I looked back through all my old photos, I was never able to decipher which photos were removed. I figured it must be incorrect — I have never violated any of the rules! Earlier this week I received another couple emails from Instagram to tell me they had removed more images. And yet, still I could not find any missing images. Again, I thought it must have been an error.
On Wednesday evening I posted the above photo of Marlow in her yellow rainboots and her ‘big girl undies’. I wrote about how, despite me trying to delay it, she had decided to be potty trained, and how she had kept her undies dry all day. I thought it was such a sweet photo of my baby girl and her gorgeous, round belly (and outie belly button). And I love that her pride is so evident in the photo – such a sweet and innocent shot of a successful day of potty-training. On Thursday morning the photo was gone from my feed and a another Instagram email was in my inbox. At least this time I knew which photo they had removed.
I went back to re-read the guidelines; I read the entire page twice and was positive that I had not violated any rules. Unless a baby’s belly is considered ‘nudity’…but surely it isn’t! She is a BABY! It is no different than a photo of a baby wearing a nappy, or a little boy in swim trunks, and to entertain the idea that it is even remotely inappropriate is a disgusting thing in itself. Again, I was sure there was a mistake, so I reposted the photo. And by yesterday evening my account was disabled.
I never, ever, ever would have thought that posting this photo of Marlow would lead to this. Instagram has deleted four years of my family photos and memories: all the photos of our travels, my children’s birthdays, all my notes and comments about my children’s traits and milestones, all the comments from friends and family, the messages I received when Marlow was born, the hashtags I created to help organise my photos, and all the direct messages I shared and received from my siblings and family members whom I rarely see. All of it gone. I am sick just thinking about it.
The most infuriating thing is that there seems to be no recourse for the unilateral decisions Instagram makes to delete accounts. There is no contact information, no email or phone number. It seems that an automated system has deleted my account, and I can’t get a single human being to review the case. If anyone has any ties to Instagram or knows anyone who can help, I would be hugely grateful if you could get in touch or leave a comment below.
In the meantime, I wanted to say just how much all of your support has meant to me. I have broken down in tears several times today, and not because of my deleted photos but because I have been so surprised by the outpour of support, the kind comments, the Instagram posts and re-posts, the emails I’ve received, and all the help I’ve been offered. More than anything this whole ordeal has confirmed for me how wonderful the IG community can be, and it has made it even more difficult to have been kicked out of it.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
xx Courtney
Comments (145)
Seeing this is beyond frustrating. Instagram’s popular page is flooded with completely inappropriate & quite suggestive photos of adult men & women, but photos like yours are not only taken down, but accounts deleted over it! I think they need to take action against the users who are reporting others for totally bogus reasons. I’m so sorry this has happened to you, Courtney! I hope they resolve the issue and bring your account back to life. Keep us updated! Lots of love, lady! Xx
I’m so sorry to hear about this, how sad and disappointing.
Heartbreaking to hear this, I have enjoyed you images and hope you can get them back somehow!
I’m so sorry Courtney, this is so stupid and totally unfair. Your account was beautiful, innocent and pure, I can’t understand people. I worked once with Instagram Spain and I will try to contact them and see if you can do something.
You are not alone on this.
I send you all my support.
XOXO,
Bea
I love your blog and your Instagram feed and am truly sorry you have been a victim of someone’s cowardly and misguided opinion. The pictures of your children are all beautiful and a tribute to your desire to create their story, for them to read and see when they are older. Hang in there and keep blogging!
Oh my heart, this is beyond distressing… I am so sorry for the loss, the memories and your story. This leaves a very bitter taste for all your followers, how unkind, unfair and unethical. Sending love… Cherish that sweet family of yours this weekend, they are so special.
I am so upset by this!! My girlfriends and I would always discuss how adorable your life is. Full of happiness and innocence! I hope this gets straightened out, as I am truly going to miss those sweet faces on my Instagram feed. It sounds like someone truly had it out for you, and no matter what you would have posted, it would have been wrong and reported. Hang in there!! You have many supporters!!
Courtney, I really hope this doesn’t ruin your weekend. I hope you’re able to have a great weekend with your family, and that everything will be resolved by next week. I love your Instagram feed. I’m praying over you and your family, and I so much wish I could fix this for you. I wish I had the connections. You’re lovely, and you have a beautiful family and home. Hugs from Alaska.
This is such horrible news! Yours is one of my all time favorite IG feeds to follow. You always post the sweetest most inspiring images of your family! I empathize with you, and hope that this unfortunate event will not make you want to stay away from Instagram once they reactivate your account, and to the person(s) responsible for having your account deleted, shame on them! I understand that some people are hyper-sensitive about images of children, but this has gone too far! So sorry Courtney, you are such a gem. xoxo
Didn’t Facebook buy Instagram? Maybe you could contact the Privacy Policy people at Facebook? Or, go straight to the top and contact Sheryl Sandberg! Good luck!
This is beyond absurd!
I loved your Instagram pictures and they always brought a smile to my face. I hope this will end well. I still can’t believe all of this.
Stay strong.
Love from Germany,
Kirsten
Such a strange world we live in where so much vulgarity is the norm & innocence is scrutinized. Makes me sad in my heart. Here’s hoping you can get to the bottom of it.
Happy thoughts coming to you & yours from Australia. Xo
courtney, i’m so sad for you. earlier today i reported a problem with instagram..the problem being that they disabled your account. just wanted you to know that i love your feed (especially four in the tub pictures! so sweet) and i’m thinking of you! xoxo breanne
This is so outrageous & ridiculous. Hoping you & your beautiful pics are back in our Instagram feeds soon – as I love your pics from the opposite side of the world with opposite seasons to Australia. xo
Hi Courtney, this made me feel incredibly ill for you! I am certain Instragram can restore your images. There is no way they are gone forever. Have you tried seeing if you know anyone on LinkedIn connected to the company? Perhaps all your readers can check as well? Have you tried calling their (Facebook) office in Menlo Park, CA?
I’m so upset for your Courtney, Its such a shame. The image of Marlow is beautiful!! I really hope Instagram brings your account back and all your images and comments come back too. As se7en says, it has left a bitter taste and I think we should all hold from posting any images on Instagram until your profile is back up in protest!! Have a wonderful weekend with your lovely family. Much love Natalie
Hi Courtney,
I sent an email to the babyccino account earlier but thought it would be worth giving you some contact information.
Email attention to Roxy (or try ). She is the owner of the Sydney based PR company and had one of her ig accounts (@pixiecurtis) removed then reactivated so she may know how to help. She may know who to email/call etc. to get yours up and running again. It obviously can be done if hers was so don’t give up!
I really hope this issue can be sorted asap, it really is ridiculous that this is even an issue!
Good luck x
I am so sorry about all of this. It is disheartening to think that we live in a world where people project their fears of an over-sexualized world onto a precious photo. If this is any consolation, I had found a pinterest board where someone pinned all of your instagram photos including the caption (I used a photo to take to my hair dresser because I loved your curly bob), they actually have kept up with it. Here is the link: http://www.pinterest.com/blessedtobehere/courtney-michael-adamo/. I hope that helps a little 🙂
I am so sorry about what happend. I love your Family so much and post your pictures on my pinterest account. (Gina has already mentioned it. Thank you for that Gina!) link: http://www.pinterest.com/blessedtobehere/courtney-michael-adamo/
I know that i don’t have your commets but i have nearly all your photos on my board and i hope that this is not a problem because I have never asked if i am allowed to use your photos. I wish you all the luck!
I’m so sorry to hear this Courtney! I absolutely loved seeing your photos and think they are precious and beautiful. It’s a crazy decision and I can totally see how upsetting it is for you. I hope the outpouring of support for you causes Instagram to restore your account and we see you back very soon. xo
Courtney, I’m so sorry. We hope Instagram fixes this mistake right away! I posted a watercolor lettering of #bringbackcourtneybabyccino…I hope people will repost and Instagram will take notice of your community support!
I think that sometimes people are very horrible, as you said you have been reported…and this is something that just very sad very jealous and above all BIGOT people does! they are your kids, nothing horrible in that pictures. I absolutely detest such hypocrite kind of human!
So sorry to hear this news! Yes such a beautiful photo of your Little angel. Such a shame and I really hope that you can get this whole thing fixed up. Sending you lots of luck xxx
Here’s their company info- try giving them a call 🙂
Contact number
+1.6505434800
Office Location
P.O. Box 77421, San Francisco, California, United States
I’m so sorry to hear about this! If it is helpful, I found the following contact information for Instagram from their pages, albeit that the information provided is related to another purpose ie press enquiries. In any case, I thought it might be helpful:
(https://help.instagram.com/306572852776489/)
(https://help.instagram.com/494561080557017/)
Mailing address – looks like their head office:
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(address provided at same link as immediately above and also at heading ‘Arbitration’ on http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/)
It really does make you wonder about what this world is coming to, especially when you compare to all the other images out there…there doesn’t seem to be any logic lately.
What’s also upsetting, as you said there is no opportunity to have a discussion to IG to defend your posting. I hope this gets resolved…
By the way, cute boots and belly!
I feel so sad for you but hopeful that they will re-instate your account. It’s a crazy system which seems so arbitrary. Keeping my fingers crossed. x
Courtney, I really hope your IG feed and history can be republished. I totally understand how distressing having it all deleted must be. I absolutely love all your pictures, I was so glad to have found you through A Cup of Jo!
Good luck and I hope this doesn’t ruin your weekend.
Amy x x x
Courtney, I’m very sorry to hear this has happened and am hopeful things will soon be rectified. You are a huge inspiration to many people and your photos and observations are so beautiful. ‘This too shall pass.’ Thank you for taking the time to write about and explain what has happened to your confused followers. Hope to see you back up there in no time. Big hug and all my support! Xx
I have followed your Instagram account for a while now and loved the insight into your world with your beautiful family. I am so annoyed by what Instagram have done I don’t even know where to start. If you put #bikini into Instagram you will find your feed packed with shots of people showing the world what they’ve got. Post work out ‘abs’ shots, girls pulling at the tops of their bikini bottoms and close up shots of cleavage etc pouting. So it really makes my head spin that a beautiful pic of your daughter showing her little round belly is being censored. It has also happened to actress Jamie King @Jaime_King this week. She posted a pic of herself with her baby boy, yes she is in a bikini but she’s covered and it’s a beautiful picture, you can see it on her account now. Instagram deleted the photo, she has re posted it, so it will be interesting to see what happens to her account. I really hope Instagram sort this out, I see you’ve got more and more high profile people supporting you like Jools Oliver so I’m sure Instagram will have to listen and sort it out. Sensorship of mothers on social media seems to be happening a lot lately, something needs to be done. Good luck, I look forward to seeing your pics back up really soon. xx
All my support. We want you back.
BIG BIG HUGS
I’m so sad for you and your followers. I think everyone is going to miss your IG feed. I will definitely miss seeing all the lovely updates of your beautiful, fashionable family! Your house is also just the way I’d like my house when i have enough money to buy one! I hope you can get your old account back or make another one soon; to build new memories. X
I’m so sorry that this has happened to you! It’s totally against all of their community guidelines but we are all trying very hard to get them to reinstate your account, if only just so you can have all your memories back!
– on Instagram as the TheGreyGang had this happen to her and she might have some way of knowing and helping?
I read about your story through another IG blogger I follow and as a mum and fellow blogger I’m so sad to hear this happening. I hope you get in contact with IG and get your account back, some people can’t see the innocence and beauty and flag images when there’s thousands of horrible, very inappropriate images out there! So unfair! Lots of hugs xx
Courtney,
Your instagram feed was one of my favorites.
That said, I have a couple red flags that have been raised internally since this happened:
-You reposted a photo which they took down. Clearly this was in defiance of what they did to you. If you cherished your feed this much, why not research a little before reposting what was taken down-even if you disagree with it?
-You and your friends have been outspoken about Instagram’s rules and regulations and how off-base they are, and yet you are begging to come back. So which is it? Are they wrong? If they are so wrong, why do you want to be apart of an organization you find so amiss?
-The photo you posted actually made me a little sad when I saw it. I agree that it is an innocent childhood photo, but I think about when my girls are in their teenage years, or become tweens. Will they want photo’s of themselves in their underwear easily accessible for every mean girl, or otherwise, so easily available? I think there are photo’s which should remain private within a loving family photo album, and those for 40k plus anonymous viewers to see. As a very public blogger, I think you should make a distinction between the two, because you are the one in charge of protecting your children. Whether they need that protection now or in 15 years remains to be seen, but as mothers, it is our responsibility to protect their anonymity to a higher degree, especially with high-profile social media accounts.
I know if I travelled to London, I could find your children in the Heath on any given weekend. And I’m a stay at home mom of 3. I’m the least of your worries.
Overall, this whole situation makes me sad. I loved watching your daily adventures with Marlow, while the older children were at school. I’ve dreamed of your annual trips to Positano. I’ve watched your wardrobe and house renovations with envy.
I sincerely hope you take this situation to heart and look within to provide your children with more anonymity and modesty.
And I hope that you get your account back. Truly.
You capture motherhood beautifully.
A big fan,
Liz
Hi Liz,
I think that sometimes it is good to challenge the rules, if they seem to be non-sensical. True, Instagram warned Courtney and she reposted the photo and was aware that she was taking the risk of having the account deleted. But if she had not done this, there would not have been the same outcry from the Instagram community.
I’m not saying what they did was right, but it was certainly legal:
General Conditions
We reserve the right to modify or terminate the Service or your access to the Service for any reason, without notice, at any time, and without liability to you. You can deactivate your Instagram account by logging into the Service and completing the form available here: https://instagram.com/accounts/remove/request/. If we terminate your access to the Service or you use the form detailed above to deactivate your account, your photos, comments, likes, friendships, and all other data will no longer be accessible through your account (e.g., users will not be able to navigate to your username and view your photos), but those materials and data may persist and appear within the Service (e.g., if your Content has been reshared by others)
Hi Courtney,
I just wanted to say that I was outraged by this and have been following the #bringbackcourtneybabyccino closely and I really hope this situation can be resolved! I was almost in tears myself when I found out! Your instragram feed is my favourite -so beautiful, so happy and so real. The world is a less beautiful place without it.
Your pictures are so wonderful it’s just madness! How can accounts such as Dan Bilzerian’s still be up and such a wonderful happy account like yours be taken down? It’s really sad and I hope Instagram sorts it out pronto!! Xx
It’s atrocious. I’m so sorry that this has happened to you.
Im so sorry this happened to you Courtney. Obviously someone had an agenda, its disgusting and so hurtful. Ive also had the same warnings and I was so frustrated by it. We really do live in a silly world where the good people seem to pay the ultimate price. Try and keep the faith, fingers crossed that the support you have will bring your account back. xxxx
Hey Courtney,
I’m so sorry you’re having to go through all this, it really is such a sweet image of Marlow.
I posted a comment on Michael’s IG feed yesterday but he may have missed it. Have you guys tried reaching out to the IG community team – Hannah Waldram or Will Guyatt may be able to help – http://instagram.com/hannahrw, https://twitter.com/hrwaldram or http://instagram.com/willguyatt, https://twitter.com/willguyatt. Will also has an email address in his profile:
It would be awesome if you could connect to a human at IG about this!
Wishing you all the luck in the world,
Alyssa. xo
it all was beyond beautiful. i’m so very sorry …
Hi Courtney, I am a big fan of your IG account, indeed a follower. Your pictures are always beautifully shot and in many ways your family life is not dissimilar to my own. I am sad for your loss of 4 years worth of memories and can understand your outrage at how quickly they deleted your account. However, why repost the picture, when they warned you of the consequences ? There are bigger battles to fight in life. I agree the pic was sweet, but it was one I did not ‘like’ as I felt it belonged in the personal family album. Hard to believe but pics like this get downloaded and reused on sites that we wish never existed. You share a lot of intimate details of your haunts and indeed where you live, I do wish you’d be a little less forthcoming about certain details of your life. Regarding the person(s) who reported this, you obviously have people trolling your site who are envious of your lifestyle. Have you seen the site http://www.getoffmyinternet.com ? You may have given someone the means to get at you. I hope you are not offended by my comments but I am just stating the other side to this. I really hope you get back your pictures and I will continue to enjoy your accounts but I do hope you will be a little more prudent in what you share.
That should read http://www.getoffmyinternets.net
Vous me manquez sur IG… Vos photos me manquent… Votre histoire me manque… Vos enfants me manquent … Revenez vite
Just wanted to add. I think Instagram objected to this picture because it is of a child, who has no rights itself. The semi clad women, Miley Cyrus’ etc… Are all adults. My local swimming pool has a notice up in the women’s changing room saying no boys over 8 allowed in. I think like Instagram they are protecting children. Sounds like I agree with Instagram, I really don’t! Just putting forward both sides of the argument.
I absolutely love your ig feed, and I think your give such a beautiful view into your life. It’s wonderful to see how much love is in your sweet family! I do so hope you’re able to reinstate your account. Heartbreaking and infuriating. Good luck.
Hugs…just hugs to you sweet friend! xoxo, annie
Hi Courtney I think it’s appalling they removed your feed. I wish I could be more helpful in terms of resolving this but only thing I would do if it were me was trawl through ppl on LinkedIn for high level Instagram employees and mail them all myself through the linkedin app. And as far as ppl saying you should be more private, whatever that’s your choice and thousands of ppl love you for it and I love that you share what you do and I can see what a genuine person you are. Xxx
The thing I’m surprised by mostly is that people would think a photo of a beautiful baby belly could be inappropriate. By saying that they also eroticize the most innocent kind of human being and the equal innocence of her lifting her dress which is apparently exactly what they are trying to avoid. So, they sexualize her innocent gesture because they fear somebody might do feel the same way! Am I making sense? How twisted and ironic is that?
You make sense to me, Sarah.
I agree that there was nothing remotely inappropriate about that picture. Having said that, I do understand where people are coming from in their general concerns about internet creeps, but honestly, in this modern age where everyone has cameraphones a pervert could just as easily snap a photo of your child in her or his swimsuit while out on the beach.
I am sorry this happened to you, Courtney. You and your family seem lovely, and I have enjoyed the glimpses you have shared into your life.
The people who point out that child molesters and perverts and sex offenders will enjoy the photos are not eroticizing images of barely-clad children. The child molesters and perverts and sex offenders who download these photos and use them for sexual pleasure are the ones who eroticize them. The people who urge you to think about who is using these photos for their own sick purpose are looking out for your children. The child molesters and perverts and sex offenders absolutely will not report you to IG because they want you to keep posting the pictures.
Some of us, through our work or our personal experience, are very familiar with the child molester network. Pictures like the one you posted of your child exposing her underwear will be downloaded and shared by child molesters all over the world. Even after they are taken down, they still exist on hard drives and thumb drives. They will be passed around, shared, bought and sold, and used by child molesters for their own sick purposes. How would you feel if your daughter, when she grows up, is contacted every time the police arrest someone with her images on their computer? How do you think she will feel when she finds out that her mother made the pictures available to these perverts by posting them on the internet? That perverts have been using her image for sexual pleasure for decades and there is nothing she can do about it? If you think this cannot happen to you, you are dead wrong.
Honestly I think it’s sad that this nameless, faceless monster that is IG takes your children’s safety into consideration more than you, their own mother. And that you’ve re-posted the photo here, seemingly out of defiance, and not based on the best interests of your child. Is it more important to be right than to keep your children safe?
Sick people exist in this world. They do terrible things to children every day. They use innocent photos of children for sexual pleasure every day. We all know this is wrong, but it happens. Every day. We can stick our heads in the sand and pretend they don’t exist, but they still exist. Acknowledging that they exist and taking steps to protect our children does not make us the monsters or the perverts. It makes us concerned parents who put our children’s safety above our need to be right.
Sarah,
I think youre making very good points. I think the same and I could not have written this in a better way.
Courtney Im extremely happy that you have your account back but please have a look at Sarah’s remarks.
Xxx
I am so sorry for what has happened. Seems very unfair and can’t imagine what it would be like to loose the photos and comments etc. Hope you can get through to IG and have your page reinstated xxxx
So upsetting. Have you tried tweeting at their twitter account? It might be the only way to get hold of them. This really is beyond ridiculous.
Hi Courtney, I am so sorry this has happened to you and my heart does go out to you. I have followed your feed and it is very beautiful. Yes, your home, children, lifestyle, clothes are envious but to me you come across very genuine and a very proud and loving mother. I am sure if IG had explained to you why they took the photo down things would be different but the lack of communication on their part is crazy. I really hope you get your account back. I am sure you will its ludicrous, especially as its just one photo. Do take care and get lots of extra cuddles from your beautiful little ones and I hope to see you back on IG as you will be so greatly missed. Love Cathy x x
There is a board in pinterest with over a thousand pictures of your instagram, I found it today due to this hashtag.. have you seen it? You could recover lots of your photographs!
http://www.pinterest.com/blessedtobehere/courtney-michael-adamo/
I’ve been following your account for only a few months and it’s true I rarely post comments in the account of people I don’t know but I thought I would leave you my comment of support too.
I love your photos, you have such an amazingly beautiful family and are turely inspiring as a mother. This really shine through your photos.
I am so sad for you that you have lost all those wonderful memories and I do hope Instagram will do something about this.
The last photo to have been removed is just so gorgeous, touching and so so cute! I don’t even understand why you were reported.
Good luck I hope you win against Instagram and I hope you will be back to share more wonderful loving photos.
I’m really sorry that you lost your Instagram account. 🙁 Should you use Instagram in the future, might I suggest setting up an account with Flickr, and then configuring the Instagram app to always share with Flickr? This way all photos that go to Instagram will also go to your Flickr account – complete with photo descriptions (as titles). This way, worst-case scenario, you may have lost the community aspect of things (hearts, comments), but the photos themselves will still be there for you.
Apparently they have software that automatically scan for things. There have been lots of people who are trying to change Instagram’s rules. But basically you can’t show nipple. Maybe that is one of the reasons why. I think there is a hash tag #freeethenipple going around Instagram for that reason. Hopefully you get your account back. Good luck.
Courtney,
I had just come across your instagram the day before it was deleted and hope Instagram is able to sort it out. Your photos and genuine family are absolutely beautiful.
xx, Marin
I am so sorry this happened to you! I am lucky in that only one of my photos has ever been ” reported” It was my two nieces that are 6 and 3 taking a bath, NOTHING was showing and the photo was adorable! They were throwing water at eachother and as always their moms were fine with it being posted.
If you Instagram photos are linked to your facebook they should all still be there!!! The photo that was removed is still in my facebook album that is shared from instagram. Hope that helps somewhat and please know you are not alone!
So many of my blogger and IG friends have the same thing happen to them over and over! Including Mama Mia over at Rockstar Ronon who has had photos of her beautiful deceased son removed!
[email protected] TheWishfulLamb.com
I heard that “wishkitchen”/”heidiwish” was in a similar situation and her old account has been restored. Maybe you can contact her and ask her for some advice? I hope she can help you to get your wonderfull account back. Good luck!
This is completely insane! I can only imagine all the emotions you are experiencing, Courtney. And the fact that it is impossible to speak with anyone makes it even worse. I’m certain that this has happened to many people, but because they aren’t in the public arena, we just don’t know about it. Every morning the Today Show (and other news shows I’m sure) in the U.S. will address trending topics and issues of this sort, and it would be great if you could get them to discuss it. Could you reach out to your blogging friends in NYC to see if they have any contacts to bring this to the media’s attention? You may already be working on this, but thought I would suggest it as well.
Best wishes and thanks for your courage!!
Maybe this would work to get your photos back: http://youtu.be/0rZgu2uznmU
And then there is this, just in case: http://m.wikihow.com/Reactivate-Instagram
I’m so sorry your account was deleted. I started following your Instagram last year, and I was inspired daily by your lovely family and photography aesthetic.
much love and support to you and your beautiful family. xoxo
I am so sad for you – though it does seem like this was an automated decision based on what you told us you have learned so far. what is ridiculous/sad about it is that 1. there seems to be no “human” who reviews these “inappropriate” flags, and that they automatically deactivate an account without any real investigation, and 2. that there are people out there who have nothing better to do with their time than to sit around and report a photo of a baby’s tummy repeatedly. very pathetic.
I follow another instagram user, pomverte (she is located in France) and her account was also suspended/deleted last year (I think that’s when it was) – but it was eventually restored. maybe reach out to her to see how it was resolved? Here is her contact page on her website:
http://www.minimom.fr/contact_en.html
I feel terrible for you and hope that they will be able to restore your photos and all the comments too 🙂 xoxo!
You shouldn’t be posting your daughter’s state of undress to a public site anyway. Your daughter’s innocence will not last, and do you think she will necessarily be okay with your practice of sharing her private moments with the rest of the world when she’s older? I know I certainly wouldn’t. Just the thought makes me extremely uncomfortable. I would think again about what are acceptable images of your daughter to post for millions of people to see. Most importantly, I would start having enough respect for her to realize it’s your job to protect her and not share her private moments without her permission.
I totally agree, Courtney I am really sorry that you’ve lost lots of your photos though presumably they are saved in a digital format anyway but, if your picture was already removed once, why re-post it? Clearly it was violating some code, rightly or wrongly, so really, you only have yourself to blame here.
@ Caitlin
Your response is somewhat disturbing. There is no violation of anything here. It’s Courtney’s decision to post pictures of her family & there appears to be many people following that want to see that! It’s a beautiful photo, one that anyone with children will relate to. Do you have issues with advertising campaigns? As I see many children & babies photographed with nappies, shoes, clothing etc some half naked some clothed? Is this all wrong to?
So there should be no public photos of anyone under the consent age of ? What? According to you?
I have to say thats complete crap! A world gone crazy!
For the few dysfunctional people out there, the rest of us should not have to suffer.
I am a mother in California and fan of Babyccino. I loved your beautiful photos, eye for detail, truly inspiring depictions of family life and marriage — not to mention the joyful, international friendships and creative work showcased on your feed. I found the Babyccino Instagrams a daily reminder to seek beauty in family and friendships and small moments. What else is going to unite us and inspire us in life but not these positive daily reminders from one another? Your Instagram feed was truly a work of art.
The only baby belly that should motivate anyone to action are those of impoverished and hungry children, and sadly, there are millions of those out there waiting for someone to take an impassioned interest in them. To those of you feeling scandalized by a cute and innocent photo of a tummy, there are a lot more little bellies to feel concerned about. Unicef, Heifer International, and Doctors without Borders, and many other organizations work tirelessly to combat childhood conditions that truly merit outrage. All of them are great organizations worthy of your support and energies.
Did you see this news article from March? This girl had her photo deleted and was able to get in touch with Instagram and get an apology.
http://www.today.com/health/we-made-mistake-instagram-apologizes-after-removing-plus-size-womans-2D79698532
To all these mommy bloggers – put down your cameras and phones for 5 minutes and just let some of life’s precious moments happen. This ‘phenomenon’ of documenting practically every moment of your children’s lives (for more page views and likes) is reaching the point of ridiculousness. I don’t see anything necessarily wrong or disturbing about this particular photo. Under normal circumstances this type of photo is perfectly fine. But is blogging and instagraming your children’s photo out into the world for thousands of viewers really ‘normal’? It this healthy? What are the dangers? This is relatively new territory and I think you bloggers need to slow down and think about some things.
I totally agree!! It’s like the whole world goes around instagramming, tweeting, facebooking every moment to their “followers” and “friends” without just enjoying the moment and filing it as a precious memory and not with a clever hashtag. Social media is a vanity project where users crave self validation and using a private image of your daughter in a precious moment to get likes, comments and follows is just a cynical ego-boost.
I think Lizzie has been ‘slightly’ harsh here, I don’t know Courtney at all, but I don’t think she’s getting an ego boost out of this. I do, however, think that people need to STEP AWAY from their camera phones and just start enjoying life without posting and sharing every single moment on line. I posted down-thread as such….I commented that I find it hard to reconcile this huge ‘no screen time for kids’ thing that goes on (& Courtney has posted about this very subject before, on her kids school trip), when the very same mothers are happy to snap pics on phones and post them to public IG feeds (I believe a pic of the school trip appeared on either IG or the blog – i’d personally be furious if a mum helper took a picture of my kids on a school trip and posted it online!). It just doesn’t feel right to me…..
Agree with Cynthia #74. Sadness? Nothing change, you have your pictures saved? When you put something only never will be yours anymore. Some times the feeling and memories will be private and only for you, even without pictures in your mind is more human.
I have something else to say. There are very real reasons why celebrities – actors, musicians, etc… go to great lengths to protect their children from the paparazzi, the medias. They know that when you are in such a massive spotlight unfortunately there are bound to be some mentally unstable people viewing. This is a real concern for these parents! The mommy blog world is changing rapidly, popular mommy bloggers are becoming sponsored, they are getting paid now, and they are becoming kind of like “celebrities’ with thousands of followers. It is competitive, too. So, the photos of the kids just pour out daily to keep everyone happy. These bloggers and their families, their children, are in a spotlight that keeps growing bigger and bigger. I think the mommy bloggers need to be talking about all of this…is this really OK, what are the dangers, are we being responsible parents, should we approach this differently, are we going down the wrong path???
Responsible parents above everything else, I agree.
I am a huge fan of Babyccinokids but I agree with Cynthia #74 & #78. As mom bloggers, you should now consider yourselves celebrities! This picture is absolutely beautiful and would be perfect for an ad or a magazine (because it would be anonymous i.e. not posted by you and not being identified by name). Also, perfect for your extended family and friends (which most of us, Babyccino readers are not!).
so if you posted a picture of yourself wearing a cropped top baring your belly button that would be okay? How many women and young girls post photos of themselves wearing crop tops baring their belly button then their belly button rings and everything else? This is beyond ridiculous. This is a beautiful baby girl and I’m outraged at how this is being handled. I really hope that you get in touch with someone to rectify this situation pronto.
have you tryed this https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203258365712436&set=p.10203258365712436&type=1&theater
It’s important to understand which photos were deleted, so that when the account is reactivated there is no repeat. But I am troubled by the idea that X number of complaints leads to automatic suspension of the account, without prior investigation. The photo appears totally fine to me. What is wrong with a baby belly? A photo at the beach would have been no different.
I wonder if the persons who reported are jealous of your beautiful family. I love your feed! How it comes back.
Like many people before me have said this is completely ludicrous. Instagram is crap and I am angry at your situation albeit not the first mummy to have their account deleted. I am so P^&*%#$ off for you.I have seen plenty of photos of women’s bodies that would be deemed too raunchy yet there they are still up for all to see. I am all for women being proud of their bodies but when the lines get crossed and the wrong photos get deleted this is what infuriates me. Also, instagram hiding behind an automated response is nothing short of gutless. I hope your feed is returned to you. Rant over .
Good luck and I wait for good news.
Janine
I echo what someone else said. It is important to know which photos were deleted so you do not make the same mistake again. I fear though you don’t really care. You will be outraged because they have dared to challenge you. We all have to live by rules, if you don’t like IG’s then don’t be part of their community. Demi Moore’s daughter has very recently had a similar battle against IG about nudity and posted many topless pictures of herself. She was villified in the press. Please with so many followers get behind a worthy campaign. Ask yourself this, when Marlow is 12 and decides to post a photo of herself on her public IG account, pulling her top up whilst wearing undies and boots will you be happy ? By your rules she will still be a child, so technically still cute. Having thousands of people agreeing with you doesn’t mean you are right. The internet attracts all sorts, some of the questions your followers ask, make me cringe ‘where do you get your cutlery/nail varnish’. Talk to your real life friends and please try to get some perspective.
THIS!!!! exactly, I love your analogy. At what point are they no longer a child? At what point would it be wrong for Marlow to be showing her panties and a nipple?
Protect your children, Courtney. That is a more important job than getting thousands of likes on a photo.
Karen and Liz,
You both talk sense. I am amazed that so many other people on here are also ‘outraged’ on Courtney’s behalf. Comparing adult and children’s pictures are not the same thing. This reminds me of the blogger called Dooce, who is constantly pimping out her children on her blog. Same with The Pioneer Woman. Children do not have a choice. It’s a weird sort of disingenuous naivety that is being spouted on here.
Courtney, this is beyond infuriating and absolutely heartbreaking for you. I have seen campaigns all weekend to get you back – best wishes.
I am so sorry to hear about all of this. I follow your Instagram feed because of the beauty of your family and sweet life you have together. I have never found anything to be inappropriate or offensive and don’t know how Instagram could…. To the contrary, your photos have brought me a great amount happiness and joy seeing a fellow wife/ mom of four live life so beautifully. It has inspired me to bring more beauty and love into my own family. So, thank you Courtney.
I have to say, I am a bit relieved to know that you were not just tired of a crazy girl from the U.S. stalking your adorable pics and had removed me from viewing:)
So glad to see you back! Please keep your pictures coming!
Dear Courtney, first of all a lot of love and huggs from me. I do sincerely hope you will get your account back in full, so you can recover all your precious memories.
Thank you also so much for writing about the ordeal in such a transparent and sincere manner. It really shows that you have a heart of gold and are such are uniquely wonderful person.
However, I do agree with the general message from Liz in comment 35 above. We should all remind ourselves of these points every now and then. Also, I think the episode reflects positively on instagram as far as their internal procedure is concerned about giving people warnings. So, the system appears to be working adequately in that regard and people don’t get their accounts removed without any warning and totally out of the blue.
You have a lot of fans, we love your photos and dont find any of them offending. You have a great eye for capturing family moments beautifully. However, although most of your fans are loving, perfectly balanced and honest mothers, there must be some overly prudish or less kind people out there. We can’t control our following once we decide to have our instagram accounts as public.
With all my love and support.
Sacira xxx
ps I have registered a complaint to instagram about your account in every possible way I could think of. Fingers crossed it gets re-instated.
I’m so sorry to hear about what IG did. Your photos are lovely. I see nothing wrong with any of them. They should really focus on the teenagers and adults with the pics they post. Good luck!
I don’t know what to say other than I’m so sorry that you have been put through this. As countless other people have said, you are an AMAZING mother and inspiring woman who I refer to in many aspects of my life! It was a beautiful and innocent photo and I can’t believe how IG has treated you. I wish there was something I could do but I hope this message goes some way to help keep your head held high and a smile on your face. Big hugs xxx
This is sad, and I hope they restore your feed and apologize for being absolutely ridiculous. If there is a person involved at instgram/facebook for suspending your account their privileges to do so should be revoked. (I’m so upset about this, I’m actually commenting … I rarely do)
again, I hope they restore you soon, how can you ban that belly!!!! 🙂
Courtney, this is so upsetting, especially when these photos are up on Miley Cyrus’s Instagram (and have not been removed). You’re photos are lovely and wonderful. I look forward to following your IG feed every day. I hope Instagram comes to their senses. (see below for the photos I mentioned of Miley that have not been taken down. They are inappropriate and I don’t understand how your photo was taken down, but not these).
http://instagram.com/p/pOyMiOQzKi/
http://instagram.com/p/pOyDCEwzKP/
What I find interesting is that we use Instagram to create communities with other human beings and build up relationships, even if they are based only online. For a lot of people Instagram creates very warm, human relationships, but as a consequence it must also create jealousy and a certain malevolence. And yet, the irony behind it is that there isn’t really a human decision making process behind it. So Instagram creates emotive responses from the community, positive but also negative, but does not have the tools to deal with this.
This must be so frustrating… I LOVED your IG Feed!!! So inspiring and lovely! Missing it already, but I am sure, they can bring it back, they would not have deleted forever, would they? Anyway, I am hoping all your lovely pictures will be back on IG very soon!!!
Lots of Love!
xxx
Courtney,
Your pictures always give me a dose of optimism, motivate to be a better mother for my children, inspire to live a beautiful life and make every day special… and much more which is hard to describe in a few words. Thank you for that!
I just came back home from a journey and couldn’t wait to take a look at your account on IG. How surprised (and frightened!) I was to find that the account does not exist! I cannot believe that somebody could send such reports referring to your posts! Had to be either insane or from very conservative cultural/religious background.
Hope this ridiculous situation will be solved soon.
Lots of love and support from Poland!
Karolina
I understand why you would be upset and since she is your daughter and your a good person it is all very innocent to you and a lot of other people as well, but sadly we live in a really bad world where gross people see pictures like this, save them and do things. Yes, it’s sick, but it’s also reality which is so sad.
This is why I have my instagram private and even then I would not post anything with my son bc I worry that someone could save something and it could get into some weirdos hands. I think an issue is also bc she is a minor and an adult posting things they chose to would not.
All I can think is that someone who reported it was worried it would get into the hands of those crazy people and thought they were helping. I am sorry this happened to you none the less.
Comment from the Jezebel article on this which summarizes my feelings on this:
“So self-absorbed, smug, and stupid. I’m glad she fulfilled her dream of doing something her body (and every other woman’s body) is innately designed to do, but some of us have less predictable, more independent goals to pursue and brag about.”
and this one
“All I read was how she tried to delay potty training and my brain had a spasm”
I have two young children myself, and I see nothing wrong with this belly picture. I think it’s adorable, and reminds me of my own 2 yr old daughter’s antics. One mother to another, this is not an inappropriate photo. Anyone who thinks it is needs to pull the stick out of their backside and chill.
I’m french and i found this news from Rue89 ( a popular french newspaper online). Just to say you : “Bon courage pour la suite !”
Oups i forgot the link : http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2014/06/22/instagram-juge-cette-photo-inappropriee-provoque-revolte-mamans-253114#comments-start
I confess I have to agree with Cynthia upthread….mummy bloggers just put your camera phones down & stop posting pics of your kids online, however beautiful & enjoyable they may be for others to view (me included – I do feel a hypocrite!). I just find it hard to reconcile mummy bloggers who are quite vocal about allowing their kids no / minimal screen time (Courtney included, who I believe has posted before about this subject), whilst these mummies are happy to post numerous photo’s per day on Instagram feeds of their very kids who aren’t allowed to look at a computer!! It just sits uncomfortably with me. I hold no social media accounts, & would feel very uncomfortable posting numerous pics of my kids and home online. I do urge you to just perhaps consider more carefully exactly what you’re posting (but I admit I do also adore your blog :))
I agree w/ Nicola’s comment. Bloggers exposing their children every single day should think about how they will, eventually, feel in a few years from now. Because by then, they will have a computer of their own and will probably find it overwhelming – or not. Anyway, this is a good opportunity, I believe, for all of us (including non-bloggers like me) to think about best safe and equally beautiful ways to celebrate our kids, families, homes & friendships.
really simple solution, inundate IG with ‘inappropriate’ flags on all the ‘Miley’ etc images.
I sadly think that many are missing the point here – of course Miley Cyrus can post revealing / scantily clad images of herself, she’s a grown adult and is making that informed choice all by herself. This shouldn’t be an argument about sexism / what is an appropriate photo to post. It should be more the question: should parents be posting regular daily pictures on public IG feeds of their kids – dressed or not. It just feels like too much for these little, innocent people – these photo’s last forever online.
ps can I just add its not me reporting your IG feed – I’m aware all my posts here sound abit negative!! Granted Courtney’s IG account is a beautiful feed, one which I enjoy hugely. But this whole thing has gotten me thinking about public feeds / pictures of kids. I deleted my facebook account last year because I felt many of my friends posts were just too ‘full on’ eg details of divorce, friendship breakdowns, baby scan pics. Enough! We don’t need all this detail, we will all live in this virtual world, not looking out of the window & seeing the real sunshine & happiness in our lives.
Hello Courtney,
Just found this doing a general search. Hope it helps! There is a telephone number on the 2nd link.
http://www.wikihow.com/Contact-Instagram
http://allcustomercarenumbers.com/Customer-Service-Number-Instagram-06446
Just heard about this on Good Morning America
What I think is amazing is that….instagram would delete this account when you have many inappropriate images on instagram (naked images/half naked). So, they delete a picture of a child but keep soft porn…truly amazed and disgusted.
‘Sadness and outrage’. A tad over the top perhaps ? For a moment there I thought you were outraged at let’s say the kidnapping of Nigerian school girls or female circumcision, but no, you lost your 40 thousand strong sycophants, sorry I meant you lost your family album, that is in no way backed up on any other media, right ? Call me cynical but I bet your fan base goes up after this. You are outraged at Instagram and their ideals, yet so badly want to be reinstated. I think you miss having your fans who in turn boost your business or maybe it’s just the ego massage you get from all those strangers envying your lifestyle. Please don’t pretend this fight is about a belly button. It smacks as nothing more than a vanity trip. You don’t believe in your children being exposed to electronics, yet you expose them every day on it. By the way, your original photograph is very different to the ones others are reposting. Yours had your toddler in panties, everyone else was wearing clothing. To a normal person this is cute but can’t you see that underwear on a toddler might be a turn on to a sick person ? Are you denying their are sick people out there or doesn’t it matter to you ? Well done Instagram for looking out for the child.
Typo ‘there’
Hi Courtney,
I have been a longtime fan of your IG feed and your blog, but I must say that it seems willfully ignorant to overexpose your children as much as you do. It doesn’t matter that there’s cleavage pics and other inappropriate images of adults on other people’s IG feeds. Those were posted by adults, who have the ability to consent to sharing images of themselves on a social platform. I believe IG was looking out for the best interests of your daughter Marlow, as she is a minor who cannot consent to sharing any images of herself, especially one where she is nearly naked. I really, really hope you take all the constructive criticism that you have received here to heart. You seem like an amazing and caring mother, but I worry that your children will feel violated a few years down the road when they realized that their childhood completely lacked privacy.
I really disagree with Olivia about children feeling violated and their childhood lacking privacy. I really feel that is unfair. I think Courtney is one of the most thoughtful mothers when it comes to posting her photos. Her account is not endless pictures of her children all day everyday (but she would be perfectly within her rights to). I think she strikes a great balance between children, home, travel, work etc. I have great respect for a fellow mama, miles away from her family, raising her 4 beautiful children, running a business and home so gracefully. As for consent…I have 2 small children and post photos for my parents, family and friends across the world. I am their mother and can choose appropriate photos (although I’m fully expecting the teenagers ‘oh my god…I can’t believe you put that picture up’ phase at some point) there is nothing for my children to feel violated by. I am sure they will let me know when they wish to vito or object to me posting.
If they are for family and friends, why not just set up a Flickr account ? What decision is behind making them public ? The only thing I can think of is the ‘Like’ button. The blog here does the job of sharing mummy and child rearing tips. Most of the children on here are too young to tell us if they feel violated. Time will tell. My son is 12 and has an Instagram account. It is private, I too have an account and he only wants me to post pictures where he is looking ‘cool’. Naked is not cool. Courtney’s children are very young and from my own experience, they all will be mortified at the semi nude pictures during the teenage years. I can’t even mention that my son might have run around in the nude, let alone show a photo to prove it.
I’ve only just learnt about this after reading the Eve Standard tonight. I am absolutely outraged! So sorry this has happened to you 🙁
First of all, I’d like to say that Courtney is a friend of mine and I know her to be an incredible mother. She would never do anything to jeopardise her children and the suggestion that the innocent picture of Marlow is somehow harmful is unfounded and unfair.
Yes, photos can be used for inappropriate purposes, but taking your child in public could also bring them in contact with someone who has inappropriate intentions. Allowing your kid to participate in after school activities or stay the night at a friend’s house or use a public restroom without you can also go horribly wrong. I understand that the internet allows for anonymous and obsessive behaviour, but I for one refuse to live my life based on fear.
Our kids are growing up in an online world. Having pictures and information about themselves online will be a normal part of their adult lives. It is simply inevitable and I’m not convinced that our children will grow up to be horrified that their parent’s posted pictures of them as kids. It will just be normal. That being said, all of Courtney’s pictures and all pictures I post of my kids are completely respectful. They aren’t rants about how annoying toddlers can be or how reading the same book for the tenth time in one day makes your mama brain turn to mush. They are simply posts about how amazing and beautiful childhood is. I stand behind that 100%.
If our children cannot yet decide, it is up to us, responsible parents, to decide whether or not their selves will be now exposed (in the present time) to thousands of strangers out there in this ‘online world’, like you so well said. My observation is not about Courtney’s character (I don’t even know her, how could it be). Simply, it is about a fact that is happening more and more everyday: parents (especially mothers) are compulsively exposing images and data (personal information) about their kids. Why is this happening? Shouldn’t we not ask? Is it because they live far away from family/friends? But don’t they have other more private means through which they can share? Is it because they want to inspire others? But can’t they do it through real-world gestures?
What is it?
This case, now in the news, has forced us to think more deeply about issues such as public/private; obsessive/reasonable; child/adult, etc. . I know it seems unfair to ask such things over an innocent and cute photo. But if we can take this matter seriously and constructively, it is more than about time to ask ‘why’.
Your son has is own account and as his mother that is your prerogative to let him have regardless of how I or anyone else feels about that. The thing about making accounts private means you are closing yourself off from community and all the positives that go with that. Sure, there are potential negatives there but I cannot honestly believe that Courtney (or Esther or Emilie or so many other ‘parent bloggers’ for that matter) would never give it a thought. I don’t think there are any photos that the children would feel violated them in any way. I think there is a huge difference between feeling violated by something and teenage embarrassment. You are right, only time will tell. Many of the children whose lives have been documented by social media will be teens soon enough, or old enough grasp the idea and to express their feelings about it. For these children though this is the norm. There are definitely no inappropriate images on Courtney’s account. If you feel so strongly why do you follow any one who has a public account and shares photos of their children? As long as the children are loved and cared for, as long as there are no fully frontal naked photos I really don’t see why it’s ok to judge someone else’s parenting choices.
I do not follow Courtney’s account. I don’t need to look at other peoples children, I have my own. I became aware of this furore through this blog. In any case, it is not a case of simply ‘unfollowing’ someone. That is just closing your eyes to what is going on around you. Would you really just stop following someone if they posted racist or explicit material or would you speak up. I personally do not think the picture was worth reporting, but it is naive to think that our children will be happy to have nude pictures plastered all over the internet and that some of these pictures will not end up on an ‘entertainment’ site. Of course we are all good parents. It just might be worth being cautious, after all what is a photo compared to our childrens safety and peace of mind.
I’ve followed this discussion for a few days now and had some time to think about it. And I would like to throw my two cents in. I have been a longtime babyccino reader (over 5 years now) and I do enjoy the blog overall.
My first observation is that the general focus of the blog has (I feel) shifted. It seems to me that it has lost some of its authenticity. A lot less observations/thoughts on issues pertaining to child rearing and/or living abroad/different cultures. There is still some of that sprinkled in to be sure, but it is much more focused on shopping and sponsored/monetized posts. And clearly the original bloggers have found some success. I’m sure it feels natural to receive packages in the mail from companies, use one’s children to model clothing, snap some photos and post it on the blog with a write up. But it is using your children for profit. Which makes me slightly uncomfortable at times.
Secondly, I don’t know Courtney. I don’t know her husband or her children. Like Courtney, though, my husband and I are raising our four children (similarly aged) far from both of our families. But we have chosen to steer clear of social media. No Facebook. No twitter. No Instagram. No pinterest. We skype with our families weekly and we share photos and we talk on the phone. As we all know, once content is posted on the internet, it never ever goes away. People capture it for all types of purposes: some innocent, some definitely not. I feel that one of my jobs as a parent is to look after my children’s best interests. And I cannot think of a single compelling reason why they ought to have an public internet presence as minors. Nude, partially nude, clothed or anything. Whether they agree or not, it doesn’t really matter. Children don’t have the sophistication or ability to think through all of the possibly ramifications of their images and personal data available for anyone to see and find and make an informed decision. That’s my job as a parent.
Finally, I wanted to bring up again Courtney’s own comments about screen time/social media. She’s written several times, most recently, I believe as the chaperone to one of her son’s field trips to a museum about how appalling she finds children snapping photos or being glued to their cell phones instead of enjoying and taking in the exhibits. Again, I don’t know Courtney or her family and I wouldn’t presume to judge her parenting skills based on a curated online presence. But isn’t this photo kind of the same thing? Instead of enjoying Marlow’s pride and her big girl undies and celebrating that moment privately as a family (or maybe privately as an extended family), why rush to snap a photo and post it publicly online? To me, this seems exactly like the type of moment to cherish in your own memory instead of trying to pin it all down on paper and share with strangers and wait for their comments.
I’m glad Courtney’s account was reinstated, but I do hope she will consider the issues of profiting from her children (either directly on the blog or indirectly when Instagram traffic feeds the blog ), public exposure of children and should she decide to continue to publicly expose her children what ought to remain private. I have to say, I don’t disagree with instagram’s policy or actions. It’s not really a publicly appropriate photo: not because of nudity or sexualization, but because it is a photo of a minor child celebrating going to the bathroom posted in a public way without any means for that child to give their consent. And once it was flagged and removed, instead of taking the time to think about why that might have been, Courtney reposted the photo after “carefully reading instagram’s policies”.
I think some of the comments have gone off on a tangent that is unhelpful. The point of the post is that a feed was removed by Instagram without any recourse to Courtney to speak with a representative at Instagram in order to resolve the issue that Instagram felt Courtney had violated its rules.
To discuss each others’ parenting choices and criticise them is not the point raised by the removal of Courtney’s feed. Life as a parent is difficult enough, without other people who chose to parent in a different way, making comments designed to arouse guilt about the choices we make as parents. Some parents choose not to photograph & publish their kids on social media, fine that is your choice. Others love to use social media as a way of storing and/or sharing their life & family. Why are we so tough on each other?
Words I saw in the comments about being more cautious with our children’s images, about protecting our children’s modesty & their anonymity, I don’t think really help the problem here which is lack of proper communication between Instagram & Courtney.
I am a follower of Courtney’s feed & I personally think she hasn’t betrayed any of the concerns raised in some of the comments, her photos never have location tags (yes sometimes we know she is often in Hampstead Heath, but that is a huge area & Positano), her kids rarely appear without clothes on even the bath shots you never see below their shoulders. Her photos are of a happy family life & yes maybe her kids may (emphasis on may) become embarrassed as teens about some photos, but I don’t think being embarrassed by your parents is harmful in any way. Surely we have all experienced the photos of our childhood being trotted out at 21st birthdays, yes we cringe, but we also laugh.
As for the existence of people on the internet who are evil & exploitative of children, yes they exist (I know I prosecuted a few myself when I was a lawyer) , but the sad truth is that children are more likely to be harmed by people they know best than strangers. I have two boys & I post their photos on Istagram, I refuse to live my life in fear despite what I have seen in my job.
Finally, it appears that the image offended someone who reported it to Instagram as inappropriate. I ask, why can we not accept the image as just a kid who is proud of her achievement, why does the fact that we can see her belly & undies constitute the sexualisation of a child? We have been so exposed in marketing material to the idea that sex sells that we have forgotten that nudity itself is not sex. We are so hung up about this that we have forgotten to just accept & be happy with our bodies. For this toddler it wasn’t even about being naked it was just “look mum I manged to stay dry, I’m a big girl just like my sister”, something we can all celebrate no matter who we are, what our culture or parenting style is: pride in our achievements big & small.
I have followed this closely because I have read this blog for a while now. I do not think we have gone off topic and think everyone has been respectful on here. Courtney posted that her IG account was deleted BECAUSE of a partially clothed photograph. Naturally we will discuss her decision to post it in the first place (she brought it to our attention) which in turns means we will question her parenting decisions on this particular subject as well as questioning Instagrams policies. I think everyone is trying to be helpful even though some of what we say must sting, but it only comes out of a place of goodness.
Like you, I have posted pictures of my children, but fully clothed (I am now starting to question if I should have done even this) but the difference between Courtney and you and I, is that we do not have 40,000+ followers. I marveled at the amount of people saying that they ‘love her family’. That is very strange. What does not sit well with me is that she is plastered all over the web. There are pictures of the outside of her house, the name of the hill she lives on and so on. Couple this with near nude pictures of a young child… so yes, she should have given this particular photo some more consideration.
Yes Instagram is faceless and perhaps should review many of it’s procedures. It was too quick to delete her account without any recourse. Their policies are a different thing. It is their right to not allow any nudity of a minor. I guess they are protecting their own interests here , but nonetheless it is their site. In any case, does any normal person other than the parents, really want to see children in baths and potty training ? what is the fascination ?
I also don’t agree that there are tangents that are unhelpful. Courtney said herself, she had noticed several photos were taken down, she read the rules, she identified which photo was deleted and at least the way she presented it in her post, she immediately and angrily reposted it. Why not have the discussion without reposting the photo? Why not contact Instagram at that point? Obviously there was recourse because her account was reinstated….which goes to my point that the internet is forever. To say nothing of the woman who has all the images stored on her pinterest account……
Nudity is nudity. Whether it is a baby, a toddler, a teen or adult. Some people may find it more or less acceptable, offensive, appropriate or whatever, but just because she is a baby doesn’t make her any less nude. And yes, many people have nude bath photos or potty training photos in a private photo album and they are trotted out at a 21st birthday party…..a private party with only family and friends….not a ton of strangers.
Also, there are many many ways to store family life that don’t involve sharing with about 40,000 people. That is clearly well beyond the scope of family and friends. Courtney wrote about being reduced to tears by losing comments and well wishes after her daughter was born. Are those really the important things? Random well wishes from strangers? It’s an interesting dichotomy….wanting to keep children offline and screen free in their own lives, but sharing so much of them as a parent. I just think it is worth thinking about.
Hi Courtney, its sad to say that little Marlow is growing in a world that has the mentality of seeing the true beauty of life as obscene..This mentality tried to cover up the natives in our ‘white mans clothing’…do everything you can to protect little Marlow from the perverse modern mentalities and give her the true essence of a natural life. Good Luck
Like others, I am not an Instagram account holder, nor Facebook, nor twitter or any social media, but I’m still able to view Courtney’s (plus others) fully public IG accounts. So if there is 40,000 people following Courtney on IG, then there must be many more like me who simply look at the account but aren’t IG members to be able to ‘Follow’. To allow just family & friends to view is, I believe, possible, rather than being completely public. I do feel awful for being so critical Courtney, your family & kids are adorable, but I just can’t help wonder if you don’t feel terribly exposed at 40,000+ people around the world seeing your precious family life? A quick google search & one can work out your exact address (from an old house blog), what you paid for your property, deduce pretty much where your kids are at school plus where you buy your favourite ice cream! The insight is fascinating & gorgeous to see &, like others have said, so sweet to view via IG, but gosh I’d feel so exposed as a parent / family. Sending sympathetic, virtual hugs for this past week. Xx
I agree with this post. You seem to be a really amazing woman, wife, mom and friend and I find quite interesting (as a mom of 3 myself) to follow your family life on the web. However, I must admit that I would feel so exposed.
Sadly you were ‘mad’ to think that picture was OK in this terrible World……!!! Especially when people know where you live…….
I wanted to add something that is perhaps a little off topic. Courtney has taken a lot of flak over this. I do not know her but can tell from her posts she is a caring person as well as mother. Babyccinokids has become a success and she and the others are asked for interviews and tips from other bloggers and magazines. All of this is great, but whereas actors and others in the public eye will have publicists reading their interviews for any personal or potentially harmful information, bloggers do not have this. I guess over a friendly chat, personal information is shared and makes it’s way onto the web. I really hope you do continue to share tidbits from your life, it is interesting and always pretty and very obviously inspiring to many. Do not be disheartened by the criticism, it was one mistake or misjudgment and we are all human. I hope you take it on board and grow from this.
Geez, a little sweetheart doing what millions of
Little ones do each day/ looking at her belly button!
Now I see how how extremely offensive this picture is-
I mean there is no gore or blood,and that little ray
Of sunshine is wondering if it’s an ” innie” or
An “outie”. Thank you for a wonderful picture, and
The innocence of the moment!
I find it outrageous what they did to you. I’ve seen worst revealing photos and nothing is done. What wrong with a little baby shown her belly? Nothing bad at all. Kuddos for standing up for yourself. By the way your baby is gorgeous. And it seems to me you are a wonderful mother 🙂
Instagram clearly needs to make some changes to their policies here. How can we trust the service with our precious memories if they delete them at will? For no reason at all? And with no recourse?
wow, I’m so shocked to read all the vulgar and negative comments on this post. Talk about kicking someone while they’re down !! It’s a cute picture and shouldn’t have been flagged as offensive. People take pictures of their kids wearing less at the beach and post it on instagram. Please try to ignore all the negativity you are receiving right now. You can learn from this, but don’t let it get you down. There are so many people in this world who shamefully like to take any opportunity to be rude to people. IT’s monstrous and it shouldn’t happen. Chin up xx
The whole point about Instagram photos ending up in strangers hands, is perfectly proved by the boards dedicated to Courtney and family on Pinterest. Creepy.
As for Instagram, if the shoe was on the other foot and someone had reposted that photo of Marlow, a minor, without your permission and the source was traced back to Instagram, they would be the ones facing media, moral and legal scrutiny.
I have a 14 year old relative, she posted an innocent photo to her Facebook page, wearing a pair of very short shorts. She got a comment from a total stranger that was sexual in content. She was shocked and removed the picture. She had the sense to take on board that not everyone is nice.
If you really believe that nude photographs of children are ok in a public arena and don’t like Instagram’s rules, rather than berate the company why not just use your own blog to upload whatever you desire ? I am a bit confused to your true motives in pursuing this.
Courtney,
I too have gotten thrown off instagram of a similar image of my four year old, I am a professional photographer and am heartbroken over the loss of instagram… in addition I tried to open a new account and it recognizes my phone and won’t let me open anyones instagram on my phone. Any advice you have would be appreciated.
I’m so glad you won this battle for you beautiful– and innocent image.
This photo is beautiful and I really am sorry about what happened nor do I think you had ill intentions, and you know that MOST of your followers don’t as well. Unfortunately though, Instagram and many other social media networks are prime locations for pedophiles and ill-intended people, and this precious photo of your daughter is easily accessible to dirty men that may use that photo of her for the unimaginable. It’s not impossible, and honestly it’s not uncommon in society today. I think that the people that may have reported the photos were thinking beyond it being a harmless and innocent photo of your little girl and trying to make sure that this beautiful little girl wasn’t used in a dirty and disgusting way. I know babies are naked all the time at places like the beach, but in this day and age some people are able to use the stomach and chest that is showing as a way to fulfill themselves and their need for child pornography. I’m not saying that this is right or fair, nor do I think your account should have just been deleted altogether. I just think that its very hard to decipher what is and isn’t acceptable these days in the eyes of society, and with all the crazies that scour for hours looking for pictures of innocence like these, I think those that reported you just wanted to avoid allowing your daughter to feed the fantasies of a perverse population.
Agreed!
Despite all that insanity, I just wanted to say, you have a beautiful family.
It’s all that matters.
Kisses from Portugal!
Honey I don’t think you intentionally did anything to bring harm or negative attention to your daughter. I do understand the need for parents to be very careful what they put out there. If it were me that owners instagram I wouldn’t want that pic up there only due to the face that I see her top. Her belly button isn’t the issue.
This pic is magazine adorable!!! It’s a shame that we live in sicky society! I’ve seen pics of females sexually posing with barely any clothes, perverting the minds, with thousands of likes and you report the pic or the account and the social media ignores it and allows it. SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!
I think this is a lovely innocent photo of a beautiful little girl. I have posted similar ones of my granddaughter on Facebook. The world’s going crazy. Instagram should have deleted the one pic if they were offended and should now reinstate all your previous photos for you so you can at least save them elsewhere. They haven’t done themselves any favours here. So sad for you.
Hey Courtney, I’m so very shocked at the article in today’s mail, I just saw a really cute little girl… Where do these people come ?? I saw innocence , I do hope All your photoes come back to you love and best wishes x
Did u get your account back?? Two girls decided to repeatedly report my daughters account in order to get it deleted….this is definitely a case of cyberbullying, but that is a completley different issue… There was not one inappropriate image/language etc on this page, and her last few years of life are gone:( i am devastated for her….we have been thru bdays, holidays, a divorce, the death of her father, and that instagram page was kind of a roadmap of her surviving this life and any smile or fun time ahe has had!! I need help getting these pictures back, please any advice will be appreciated!