Live data from Hacker News

‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

nypost.com

41–50 of 163 posts

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#41

Does this apply to private chats? Because I'll send these in a joking way to my girlfriend and some of my other friends. I know that Facebook messenger parses chats and won't allow porn site links and torrent magnet links to go through.

It's interesting how we still refer to them as "private messages" or "private chats" when we know full well everything is being analyzed, as evidenced by your post.

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#42

If Facebook really wanted to stop this they could make the eggplant less phallic looking or remove it entirely. Almost no one is going on Facebook to actually talk about eggplant. They don't want users to have the same plausible deniability when sharing a cartoon wiener that they had when adding a cartoon wiener as an option. And honestly, it is probably for the better that sexual harassment via eggplant is now expli…

This is what I find most confusing. If Facebook’s goal is to decrease the frequency of the eggplant & peach emojis being used as sexual references there are a million ways to “nudge” users in that direction. Make the eggplant & peach emojis sliced and I bet they’d just about disappear.

Why police content, especially this content that seems like a total non-issue, when they’re in the middle of a giant PR campaign trying to convince users they shouldn’t police content any content?

I’ve never once heard someone complain about emoji sexual innuendo and if Facebook’s motives are to stop sexual harassment that might be the most half-hearted attempt in history. Someone who wants to sexually harass a person via Facebook isn’t going to be deterred because they might get reported (and then... presumably nothing?) for sending an emoji.

No matter Facebook’s end goal, it seems like an odd strategy.

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#45

How will they even police this? If I say "Hey come over for dinner tonight :eggplant:", is that sexual innuendo or am I making my famous eggplant parmigiana?

"Sounds good! :peach:" I'll bring my famous peach cobbler for dessert. If you know what I mean. Actually, I don't know what I mean so I'm sure Facebook can't either. But that won't stop them.

Facebook users play in Facebook's house for "free", so they live by the owner's rules which can change on a whim.

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#46

If Facebook really wanted to stop this they could make the eggplant less phallic looking or remove it entirely. Almost no one is going on Facebook to actually talk about eggplant. They don't want users to have the same plausible deniability when sharing a cartoon wiener that they had when adding a cartoon wiener as an option. And honestly, it is probably for the better that sexual harassment via eggplant is now expli…

> If Facebook really wanted to stop this they could make the eggplant less phallic looking or remove it entirely.

I for one am still waiting with bated breath for the "eggplant parm" emoji.

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#47

Does this apply to private chats? Because I'll send these in a joking way to my girlfriend and some of my other friends. I know that Facebook messenger parses chats and won't allow porn site links and torrent magnet links to go through.

Woah wait, they're blocking magnet links too?? That's horrible. It's already disgusting that they block porn links. Why are they censoring private speech between friends?

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#49
post #14
post #8

> The Facebook Community Standards language is quite broad, not naming the emojis specifically but referring to “[commonly used] sexual emojis or emoji strings” as criteria which qualify as “Suggestive Elements.” > “[Content] will only be removed from Facebook and Instagram if it contains a sexual emoji alongside an implicit or indirect ask for nude imagery, sex or sexual partners, or sex chat conversations” > “We ar…

Thank god nude photos where male nipples cover female nipples are still fine.

For context from a couple of years ago on Instagram:

https://fstoppers.com/originals/instagrammers-fight-censorsh...

People were censoring female nipples with male ones since that's apparently more appropriate.

Re: ‘Sexual’ use of eggplant and peach emojis banned on Facebook, Instagram

#50
post #34

Why not also ban the gun emoji? Oh wait this is an American company where violence is OK but sex is taboo.

Yeah let's pretend guns don't exist. Knives exist too, those are weapons, better ban them. You could throw apples at someone for long enough and probably hurt them a good bit, better ban them too. The sterilized world you want to live in is not necessarily the one that everyone else wants to live in.

Apples aren’t specifically designed to kill people. You don’t have mass school shootings where dozens of kids are attacked by apples and suicides caused by apples are significantly fewer than those by guns.

The two aren’t even remotely equatable.

Post reply on HN