'World's hottest grandma' accuses Instagram of ageism

A grandmother has called out Instagram for “ageism” after the social media platform deleted one of her posts.

Gina Stewart, 48, a model who last year featured on Maxim’s Hot 100 Australia list, regularly posts scantily-clad pictures on her Instagram page.

She also has a separate fan page, with the handle @WorldsHottestGrandma.

However, Stewart – who has two granddaughters – has recently faced censorship on her main account, @ginastewartoffical, and she believes it might have something to do with her age.

“My photos on Instagram are always glamorous and within the guidelines but I have had five deleted over the year and I am now search banned – that means you can’t find me unless you type in my whole name,” she tells Yahoo UK.

“I feel that women in general are being targeted on Instagram and censored more than men so Instagram is becoming sexist.”

She concludes: “It could be ageism on my part because I don’t fit into the social norms being dubbed the worlds hottest grandma and sharing glamorous photos.”

Stewart brought the issue to attention earlier this week on Instagram, after the most recent instance of one of her posts being deleted.

Sharing a communication from the social media platform which informed her that her post had been deleted, she said she “can’t fathom” the reasoning behind it.

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In a subsequent post, she shared a censored version of the deleted photo – stressing that she is “still not certain” what needs to be covered up in the picture.

She questions, “Is it because I’m a Grandma? Is it ageism?”.

Instagram and censorship

According to Instagram’s Community Guidelines, photos and videos shared on the platform should be “appropriate for a diverse audience”.

“For a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram,” it says.

This includes: “Photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed.”

It is unclear, from the censored version, whether Gina’s nipples were on show in the original version of her post – although her buttocks are clearly at least partially covered by her lingerie.

READ MORE: 51-year-old says she looks better in a bikini now than in her 20s

However, Instagram’s policy continues to puzzle users, Recently, some users questioned why a post from Madonna – of her latest album cover, which features an image of her nipples – wasn’t censored.

One user wrote: “This is beautiful but can anyone tell me why this photo isn’t being censored by Insta when photos of women breastfeeding their babies are?”