If you use Instagram to promote your career as a sex worker or Pornhub Model, there are some guidelines you need to be aware of.

We’re certainly not perfect and have had our fair share of posts taken down and accounts disabled, but with some trial and error and research, we’ve been able to follow the community guidelines and still post smokin’ hot pics! We’ve broken down Instagram’s rules so you can continue to post without risking losing your account.

The first and most important step is to BE INFORMED. Instagram and other products from the Meta (former Facebook) brand have strict regulations regarding adult nudity and content. If you want to be a financially successful NSFW Model, you need to treat yourself as a responsible business owner and be informed on the limitations your personal brand has on these platforms.

It is explicitly stated in the Instagram Community Guidelines that users must:  “Post photos and videos that are appropriate for a diverse audience”. By nature, NSFW content is not appropriate for diverse audiences. Be ahead of the curve and avoid having your account removed by being aware of the rules.

If you’re going to use Instagram to promote your SW business, we recommend reading the entirety of the Instagram Community Guidelines and Meta policies on Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity and Sexual Solicitation.

General Restrictions:

Many of our Models’ have had content removed or accounts disabled due to misunderstanding the Instagram Community Guidelines. There are also concerns of “shadowbanning”.

While Instagram has never confirmed that they actively use “shadowbanning”, they have confirmed that they restrict content that is deemed inappropriate based on its community guidelines.

“We have begun reducing the spread of posts that are inappropriate but do not go against Instagram’s Community Guidelines, limiting those types of posts from being recommended on our Explore and hashtag pages. For example, a sexually suggestive post will still appear in Feed if you follow the account that posts it, but this type of content may not appear for the broader community in Explore or hashtag pages.”

While Instagram has not officially published a list of banned hashtags or words, a Google search of “Banned Instagram Hashtags” will bring up multiple results. “#MODELS” appears on many of these lists.

We broke down the main rules for you below:

Nudity:

Instagram prohibits the display of any ‘Adult Nudity’ with certain allowances for medical or educational purposes. Assuming you are not an anatomy professor and in fact an NSFW model, if you post photos of your nude body, you risk having your post removed. Multiple offenses puts your account at risk of being disabled.

Adult nudity consists of: “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 […]”
Note that a “close up of fully nude buttocks” just means your nude buttocks. The exception to the female nipple rule applies to posts dedicated to health/education.

Keep the nudity on PH where we’re more than happy to see your butts!

Sexual Activity:

Instagram prohibits content that features explicit or implicit sexual activity.
Even if you are merely suggesting a sexual scenario, this is considered implied sexual activity.

Displays of the following are prohibited, whether they are explicit or implicit 

• – Sexual intercourse
• – Oral sex
• – Genitals coming in contact with another person’s genitals/anus.
• – Stimulation of the genitals or anus

An example of implied intercourse would be a photo of someone’s nude body pressed up against another nude body – a sexual scenario is implied and therefore against Instagram’s community guidelines.

Outside of sexual activity, depictions of the following are all implied sexual activity:

• – Erections – do not post a “thirst trap” of your erection under your underwear/ grabbing your bulge.
• – By-products of sexual activity (you know … cum and vaginal discharges)
• – Sex toys placed on our in your mouth – we see tons of Models post pictures like this – avoid it.
• -Stimulation of naked nipples
• – Squeezing female breasts (defined by Insta as “a grabbing motion with curved fingers that shows both marks and clear shape change of the breasts.”)

Sexual Solicitation

This one is especially important because it is often misunderstood. While you may be thinking “I don’t offer any sexual services outside of my videos so this doesn’t apply to me” – Instagram thinks otherwise.

Instagram restricts and/or prohibits content that “facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters or commercial sexual services between adults”. Instagram also restricts “sexually explicit language that may lead to sexual solicitation”.

Promoting your NSFW content on Instagram can be considered soliciting commercial sexual services between adults, even though you may not be inviting anyone to partake in any explicit, “real life”, sexual encounters.

Avoid posting the following:

– “Check out my Pornhub”, “Look me up on Pornhub”, “Watch my new video on Pornhub” are all examples of what Instagram can consider sexual solicitation.

– Do not use your personal Pornhub link as the link in your bio or share your Pornhub links directly through Instagram. Offering or asking for pornographic material is considered solicitation. We recommend using a third party link service.

– Using your Instagram to ask other users if they want to collaborate on a video can be considered sexual solicitation under “attempted coordination for adult sexual activity” which is prohibited.

– Offering or asking for “sex chat” (sexting), nude photos or videos or using sexual slang terms are considered sexual solicitation.

– Using sexually explicit language that goes into detail beyond a mere reference to a state of arousal (erection or wetness) or language that describes a sex act.

– Using sexually implicit language such as contextually specific and commonly sexual emojis or emoji strings, or regional sexualized slang.

– Instagram lists “poses” as “do not post” content. This refers to physical poses of the body that can insinuate sex. This is why many non-nude, lingerie photos are often removed or restricted by Instagram.

– Any audio of sexual activity or audio that implies sex acts.

While Instagram makes exceptions for some content based on the context of that upload, by nature of your career as a sex worker (assuming you advertise this information on your profile), your account is more likely to be scrutinized. Be aware of the rules and be creative about how you post. If your post or account is removed or disabled, you can appeal the decision. If you’re aware of the rules, you can make a better case for yourself in your appeal.

Tip: If you’ve had to make multiple accounts or if other users have made imitation pages of you, we suggest making a “verification” video for your Instagram Highlights, so fans know they’re on the right profile. It can be as simple as, “Hi, this is Erika from Pornhub, and @ErikaFromPornhub is my real and only Instagram account!”

If you have tips on navigating social media for Models, share them at pornhub.com/blog/14051.

And don’t forget, you can also take the free social media mastery for the adult industry at performer.training.