Areola Art Is Not Nudity
Medical and post-mastectomy areola tattooing helps people rebuild body image after breast cancer and surgery. It should not be repeatedly misclassified as sexual content.
For medical tattoo artists, restorative tattoo professionals, educators, advocates and supporting organisations worldwide.
When realism triggers the wrong moderation decision
Highly realistic 3D areola tattoos are designed to recreate a natural appearance after mastectomy, breast reconstruction or other medical procedures. Yet artists report that photos and videos of this work can be flagged as nudity even when the content is clearly identified as a tattoo and presented in a medical or educational context.
Medical tattoos are treated like actual nudity
The more realistic the tattoo, the greater the risk that automated moderation mistakes restorative tattooing for exposed anatomy.
Context labels do not reliably solve it
Artists may add “THIS IS A TATTOO” to the image, video and caption, yet still experience removal, restriction or review cycles.
Important information becomes harder to find
Many breast cancer survivors still do not know realistic areola tattooing exists. Restricting educational content makes awareness and access harder.
We are asking for fair, context-aware moderation
This initiative is not asking platforms to ignore safety rules. It is asking for medical and restorative tattoo content to be recognised for what it is.
Add my nameTo Meta and the teams responsible for Instagram and Facebook content moderation,
We are medical tattoo artists, areola restoration specialists, educators, advocates and supporters working with people affected by breast cancer, mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
Realistic 3D areola and nipple tattoos are created to restore the visual appearance of an areola after surgery. Their realism is not sexual. It is the purpose of the restorative work.
Across our profession, educational photos and videos can be misclassified as “nudity or sexual activity”. This can happen even when the content itself clearly states that it shows a tattoo and the caption explains the medical context.
Repeated false-positive moderation does more than inconvenience artists. It limits our ability to educate patients, inform the public, train professionals and show breast cancer survivors that restorative options exist.
We ask Meta to improve the way medical areola tattoo content is recognised, reviewed and protected from repeated false-positive enforcement.
Areola art is restorative healthcare-related work. It is not sexual content.
Five practical changes
Improve visual recognition
Reduce false positives that confuse realistic 3D areola tattoos with actual exposed nipples.
Recognise medical and post-mastectomy context
Use signals from captions, on-image text and account context when reviewing restorative tattoo content.
Escalate repeated false positives to human review
When the same professional account is repeatedly misclassified, provide meaningful human review rather than repeating the same automated outcome.
Prevent account-level harm from known false positives
Artists should not accumulate restrictions or reduced visibility because legitimate medical tattoo work is repeatedly misread by automation.
Publish clear guidance for medical tattoo professionals
Give artists a practical, transparent way to publish educational and restorative content without guessing what will trigger enforcement.
Add your voice and your evidence
The public letter and the incident database serve different purposes. Sign the letter to show professional support. Report an incident if your own content has been wrongly moderated.
Built by the profession, not by one account
Launch publicly after the first group of respected medical tattoo professionals and supporting organisations have agreed to be named.
“The realism of an areola tattoo is not evidence of sexual content. It is evidence that restorative tattooing is doing what it was designed to do.”
Help make medical tattooing visible without misclassification
Add your professional name to the open letter, and if you have been affected, document your case so the scale of the problem can be shown with evidence.