Beauty therapist who creates nipple tattoos for cancer patients has ads banned by Facebook
A beauty therapist who creates nipple tattoos for breast cancer patients has been banned from posting adverts for her work on Facebook because her pictures were deemed to contain ‘adult content’.
Vicky Morgan, 38, from Wadebridge in Cornwall, is trained to create tattoos for women and men who have lost their breasts through a mastectomy.
She is able to post images of the areola reconstruction tattoos she creates at The Attic Tanning & Beauty on the salon’s Facebook page, but she says paid-for adverts about the service have been censored.
Read more: One in five women unlikely to visit doctor with breast health concerns
“And yet another boosted post rejection by Facebook,” she wrote in a post on the salon’s Facebook page.
“This is why sharing these posts is so important to spread the word further to reach those who may need my services.”
Watch: The salon creating beautiful mastectomy tattoos
Morgan has been a beauty therapist for 20 years and has recently trained in creating 3D areola tattoos for women and men who lost their nipples after having undergone a mastectomy.
The tattoos are designed to offer breast cancer survivors realistic nipple tattoos over their mastectomy scars.
Read more: Sarah Harding reveals she is undergoing breast cancer treatment
But the therapist has been frustrated that adverts for her services have been repeatedly rejected because of Facebook’s terms regarding nudity and sexual content.
The social media platform allows content showcasing nudity intended as medicinal or educational, but despite the fact she has not shared pictures of actual skin, only of the silicon mould she has been practicing on, Morgan says her pictures have repeatedly been removed by Facebook.
“It is incredibly frustrating,” she said. “These women and men deserve to feel confident again.
“This is for breast cancer survivors who may need my services to help them claim back their confidence and make them feel like themselves again post-mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery.”
While Morgan says she appreciates the need for censorship when it comes to adverts which may cause offence, she believes there should be “provisions in place when it comes to posts made to help people by offering services that are in the paramedical field, like mine.
“This is for breast cancer survivors who may need my services to help them claim back their confidence and make them feel like themselves again post-mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery,” she added.
Read more: The potential cancer sign that many women are ignoring
Morgan has been offering nipple tattoos for the past two years, having retrained to do 3D areola tattoos, honing her craft by practising on moulds.
“I have been trained by one of the best Areola tattooing artists in the country to provide this amazing treatment for women and men who have had breast surgery or reconstruction following mastectomies to enable them to feel whole again,” she said.
“I can also treat old and faded tattoos to make them look more realistic. Unfortunately Facebook won't allow me to post photos.
“For many who have been through breast cancer this can signify the final step in their journey.
“They have gone through the cancer, the mastectomy, the chemotherapy and the reconstruction.
“This is the final touch and is a service we provide for free.”
A Facebook company spokesperson told Yahoo UK that the site’s advertising policies are a different set of rules to those governing posts that are allowed on profiles.
“We allow people to post images of post-mastectomy areola tattoos on their page or profile, as Vicky has been able to in this case,” the spokesperson explained.
“However, we do not allow people to run ads which include adult content, including nudity or implied nudity, because ads are governed by a stricter set of policies. This is why the ads Vicky tried to publish were not allowed on the platform.
“We recognise the important work Vicky is doing and hope she continues to use the platform to promote this.”
Additional reporting SWNS.
