Delivered
Oliver Cain has seen his social media presence on the web scrubbed due to complaints about an image depicting a man without a torso.
Oliver Cain spent his time, money and soul building his online presence to sell his artwork, only to have it all regretted by cartoonists.
For the past three years, the young Auckland artist has been building his online profile and customer base through Instagram, but in late February, his account was blocked and then deactivated due to a complaint about a painting.
It has caused a lot of frustration for Cain, who has lost both money and access to almost all of his overseas customers.
“I have lost years of contacts and communication and the development of a loyal community and customer base due to the narrow-mindedness of a few people who reported my work,” he said.
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“It’s crazy how it can all just disappear with the flick of a finger.”
The image at the center of the drama is a stylized painting of the chest of a man with blue skin and pink nipples.
Cain, who has not had problems in the past, believes the complaints are “homophobic”.
Delivered
Cain chose the “safest” of his paintings for a sponsored post to avoid any possible pushback.
The painting was part of an exhibition that was supposed to be part of Auckland Pride, which celebrated the Rainbow community before the Omicron eruption saw canned festivities.
But Cain still went on with his exhibit in Ponsonby Central in the center of town and decided to pay for a few sponsored posts to make it known.
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Since the exhibition had a “slightly homoerotic theme”, Cain decided to choose the “safest” painting, “because I know how some people can be”.
It had all gone swimming until he received a message the day before the exhibition closed that his account had been blocked because he had posted offensive content.
“It’s basically because someone reported the post as being nudity, which is overwhelming when you consider that it’s about someone with blue skin,” he said.
Delivered
Cain has been working for years to build an online presence as an artist, and has seen it all disappear.
“Compare it to all the other shirtless people on Facebook and Instagram, and it doesn’t really make sense.”
He has already appealed the decision once and has been beaten back, but he is now waiting for another appeal to try to get his account back.
“I think it’s ridiculous that there is no help for problems or problems that come as a result of the service you pay for.
“Meta [the company that owns Facebook and Instagram] is one big black hole into which you throw all your hopes, dreams and endless hours without absolutely no way to contact them. “
Meta has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded.