There are famous works by Rubens or Modigliani that are considered “pornographic” by Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Is a woman’s nipple always pornography? Yes, it is for the algorithms of various social networks, which have censored nude masterpieces from Vienna museums that, in protest, are now exhibiting those pieces on the OnlyFans adult platform.
The Museum of Art History and Natural History, the Leopold and the Albertina participate in this unusual denunciation of the new puritanism with an account in which they exhibit works by artists such as Rubens, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser and Amedeo Modigliani, considered “pornographic” by Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
The Stone Age, censored
Even the Venus of Willendorf, a plump Paleolithic sculpture of more than 25,000 years considered a symbol of fertility, suffered censorship by Facebook algorithms in 2018, although that social network later acknowledged its error and apologized.
“For years we have been observing the worrying trend that artistic publications with nudity are blocked or eliminated from social networks. OnlyFans seemed the perfect channel to highlight this problem”, explains to Efe Norbert Kettner, director of the Vienna Tourism Office, who is behind the initiative.
The publication of nudes has been a problem for Viennese museums, since platforms such as Facebook or Instagram not only censor the content, but have also temporarily suspended their accounts.
“We found that OnlyFans is the first social network that has no problem with nudity. Which makes it the perfect platform to show art freely,” adds Kettner.
OnlyFans, which allows the publication of sexually explicit content, has received widespread criticism from those who believe it is promoting pornography by offering erotic photographs and videos in exchange for money.
Debate on censorship
“What we really want is to inspire a much-needed discussion about censorship in the arts and the fact that there is no real freedom for the arts on social media,” says the Vienna tourism manager.
“We believe that there should be no censorship and less one determined by an algorithm that cannot be held responsible for the decisions made,” he specifies.
This initiative comes after a series of controversial decisions from various platforms.
In 2019 Instagram claimed that Rubens’ painting of “Helena Fourment coming out of the bathroom” – which shows a naked woman – was “against community norms.”
And last July TikTok suspended the Albertina Gallery account after publishing works by Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, which showed a darkened female breast.
Expressionist Egon Schiele’s stark nudes even ran into real-world censorship in 2018 in an ad campaign in Berlin and London.
The Vienna Tourist Office covered the breasts and genitals that appeared in the works with a white stripe that read: “Sorry, 100 years old but still too daring for today. To art your freedom.”
Now, under the slogan “Vienna strips naked at OnlyFans”, these four museums and the Tourist Office make the leap to this controversial platform for advocacy and educational purposes.
For a price of three dollars a month, all those interested in supporting this campaign will be able to access the “prohibited works” by other platforms, accompanied by a small explanatory text.
In addition, in an attempt to promote cultural tourism, subscribers to this unusual OnlyFans profile will be able to win tickets to visit museums.
A great answer
“We have seen a great response, very positive, to our campaign,” says the head of the Tourism Office, whose number of followers on OnlyFans does not stop growing.
But Kettner emphasizes, once again, that the background of the campaign is criticism of censorship, something that artists have been fighting for centuries.
“We always advocate for the freedom of art. You may not like everything you see, but that doesn’t mean it has to be banned. This corresponds to the tradition of the Vienna Secession movement and its iconic motto: ‘To each age, its art. To each art, its freedom ‘”, he concludes. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
