Instagram is one of the most popular social networking sites of all time – but the app has come under fire over recent months for its censorship and nudity policy. Activists and celebrities alike have long been pushing against the strict guidelines, which saw female nipples being banned from the site, but allowing the male counterpart’s to remain published online.

Hi. This is a photo of me from my bodybuilding years, circa 2010. And these are the nipples of @mileycyrus and @chrissyteigen (I hope you don't mind me borrowing them!) from their Instagram posts that were removed due to the dangerousness of their visible female nips. Can’t you tell by how perverse my photo has become without my asexual male nippies? Sarcasm. If you're new to the #FreeTheNipple movement (like I am!) let me tell you what I think I understand about it. The banning of women's nipples may sound normal or even inconsequential as you think, "well, women's nipples are more sexual than men's nipples”. But that’s not some scientific fact. It’s because of how our society so heavily sexualizes women. And it should be up to the individual woman to decide if she wants to show them, just like men have the choice. Part of the stand of #FreeTheNipple is about the right of women to claim what their breasts and nipples mean to THEM, and not have that be defined by how men and much of society decides what their boobies mean. At this point, if you’re still clinging to the notion of “well, that’s just the way it’s been,” then you might reconsider thinking of yourself as a rational and progressive person. If you have breasts, you might think, “I’m not interested in showing my niplets on social media or in public,” in which case you should feel free to keep ‘em swaddled! But shouldn’t you support the freedom of CHOICE of the INDIVIDUAL woman to do this even if YOU don’t want to? Like, even if you’d never be interested in joining a protest, wouldn’t you think it’s important to have the CHOICE to be able to legally protest, if one so chooses? The answer is yes. You might be thinking to yourself, there are way more important issues out there than women being able to expose their bumpy buttons whenever men can. But it’s not just about getting an even tan; it’s one piece of the puzzle of creating deep change in the way our society objectifies women and creates these different standards for men and women (and other genders). At the heart of it, it’s simply about gender equality and equal rights. - #FreeTheNipple and photoshop newbie

A photo posted by Matt McGorry (@mattmcgorry) on Jul 8, 2015 at 12:41pm PDT

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom explained their controversial censorship as the app trying to stay in the Apple Store. In order to keep your app available for Apple smartphones, you have to abide by the company's standards. Unless your app is specifically restricted for adults only, you can't have any nudity, and Systrom wants to keep the app available to everyone. So how do you get around this conundrum as an app creator? Well it seems the founders could be looking at releasing an R-Rated app – that would allow users to post a moderate level of nudity – once they’re 18 years or over. While taking part in a Vanity Fair panel discussion, cofounder Kevin Systrom said he was investigating options. When pressed about the rumours of producing an R-rated app, Systrom added: "There have been discussions. Before adding it can be difficult trying to figure out "who decides what's R-rated. We're not in the business of hosting porn. We focus on people being able to express themselves in beautiful ways." Lead Image: Cara Delevigne/ Instagram