A version of Instagram with nudity in it? It's not going to happen, the company said Wednesday.
Eyebrows were raised when Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom said on Tuesday that there "have been discussions" about an R-rated version of Instagram, according to Vanity Fair.
Speaking to Katie Couric at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit in San Francisco, Systrom said that the problem was that "the question becomes, who decides what’s R-rated?"
An Instagram spokesperson on Wednesday told NBC News that the company never had plans to build a separate version of the photo-sharing service and is not considering building one in the future. Systrom's comments from the Vanity Fair summit were taken out of context, the spokesperson said.
The topic of nudity on Instagram has become something of a hot-button issue, with social media users posting arguments for looser restrictions under the #freethenipple hashtag.
Instagram's rules on nudity are somewhat vague, banning "some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed."
Systrom was interviewed alongside Lena Dunham of "Girls," who, according to Vanity Fair, told Couric that, despite quitting Twitter because of nasty comments, she remains on Instagram because "the presence of images and no character limits creates a much less toxic environment."
