The Queensland cosmetic tattoo artist says it is almost impossible to share photos and videos of her work on social media.
A Queensland cosmetic tattoo artist who helps breast cancer survivors says it is almost impossible to share photos and videos of her work on social media. Rachel Cahn, who runs Tinted Love in Noosa, specialises in creating tattoo areolas for clients who have undergone mastectomies and no longer have nipples.
Being able to provide realistic-looking, 3D areola tattoos for cancer survivors was deeply meaningful, Cahn said.Cosmetic tattooist Rachel Cahn is calling for change from social media companies in dealing with images and videos of breast cancer survivors. "This art is not just about aesthetics; it's often the final step in helping survivors to reclaim their bodies and restore their sense of hope and dignity," she said. Areola tattooing is a relatively new procedure available for breast cancer survivors and Cahn said she was therefore keen to let as many women as possible know about it. However, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok were constantly banning her photos and videos due to them being flagged as showing nudity, Cahn said."I can't post anything on TikTok, they don't really allow any of my work." Likewise, Cahn said photos she posted to Facebook showing areola tattoos were often banned, after which she needed to go through a time-consuming process to have them reinstated.Cahn said other restrictions had been placed on her accounts, such as Instagram banning her from posting live videos for 12 months and Facebook blocking her from inviting people to join her page."Shadow banning is where you don't come up in people's feeds," she explained.The actions of the social media giants appear to directly contradict their policies on allowing photos and videos of breast mastectomies for education and advocacy purposes. "We agree that undergoing life-changing experience and that sharing photos can help raise awareness about breast cancer and support the men and women facing a diagnosis, undergoing treatment or living with the scars of cancer," Facebook says on its website.It is understood that the automated processes used by social media platforms to detect nudity, including nipples, is unable to distinguish between real and tattoo areolas.reached out to Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, for comment but did not receive a response before publication. A spokesperson for TikTok said the platform had worked with Cahl to reinstate two videos which were "incorrectly moderated by our automated systems". "TikTok's Community Guidelines do not allow nudity or body exposure, but we do allow some content that falls within our limited exception categories," the spokesperson said. Cahn said she was exhausted by the process of trying to fight the social media companies simply to show her work. "It is tiring, and I'm wanting women to know that I'm here and what I do, but it doesn't get seen by anyone, and I get all these bans and restrictions and flags," Cahn said. "And it is so hypocritical because then you see all the hate speech and the violence on social media. "Even Instagram says they don't allow photos of buttocks, and I'm just like, come on, that's an absolute joke, every second woman is in a string bikini."petition calling for social media companies to reform the rules for cosmetic tattooists who work with cancer survivors. "The guidelines need to be changed so that cosmetic tattooers can post these images, so that breast cancer survivors are aware that this service is available. "I have a lot of women that actually come in here and they say that they didn't even know the service was available until I posted something in one of the Facebook groups."
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