Instagram forced to apologize after removing plus-size woman's butt selfie

Meghan Tonjes, 29, launched a powerful YouTube tirade accusing the social media site of double standards

Yesterday, Instagram issued an apology and restored the image to Ms Tonjes' account



Instagram has been forced to apologize after removing a plus-size woman’s butt selfie.



Meghan Tonjes, 29, from Los Angeles, had shared an image of herself posing with her butt to camera, wearing a pair of black bikini briefs and T-shirt, captioned 'booty appreciation #honormycurves #effyourbeautystandards.'



She was furious when she received an email from the photo-sharing site notifying her that the image had been taken down because it violated the site's nudity rules.



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Disappointed: Plus-size video blogger and musician Meghan Tonjes, 29, has told of her outrage after Instagram removed her 'tasteful' butt selfie (seen right)

Double standards? New York-based workout fanatic Jen Selter (right) shot to fame with her shapely derriere - she loves posting snaps of her scantily-clad body to Instagram



This is despite the fact that thousands of Instagram users, including Kim Kardashian and ‘butt selfie queen’ Jen Selter, post similar photos on a daily basis without issue.



Ms Tonjes, who weighed 321lbs at her heaviest and has since been slimming, responded on Monday with a powerful YouTube tirade accusing Instagram of double standards.



In the eight-and-a-half-minute-long video, titled 'Dear Instagram', she says: 'I have no shame.

'I've posted photos along my weight-loss and transformation of me in gym clothes, in underwear, just photos of parts of my body that I'm super happy with and I'm super proud of and I've embraced getting older.

Source of the problem: The Los Angeles-based blonde, who weighed 321lbs at her heaviest, posted this image to Instagram and soon received an email stating that it violated the site's nudity rules Flesh on show: Here Kim Kardashian (left) and Nicki Minaj (right) jump on the butt selfie trend

'I have pride for my curves. My still very fat body, I like a lot.'



The film quickly attracted more than 80,000 hits with many viewers congratulating Ms Tonjes for highlighting the issue of social media photo etiquette.



'You are completely right, when someone doesn't fit in the "normal" category of society, everyone grabs a torch, but when the torch-wielders post pictures like that no one cares,' one fan wrote.

Thanks to her campaign, Instagram issued an apology and on Wednesday restored Ms Tonjes' butt selfie to her account.

On show: Ms Tonjes says she has 'pride' in her curves - she regularly posts images of her body to Instagram

Transformation: The performer weighed 321lbs at her heaviest (left) and has since been slimming (right)

Instagram said in a statement: 'We try hard to find a good balance between allowing people to express themselves creatively and keeping Instagram a fun and safe place.



'Our guidelines put limitations on nudity and mature content, but we recognize that we don’t always get it right. In this case, we made a mistake and have since restored the content.'



Dozens of Ms Tonjes' followers rejoiced at the news that her derriere-baring shot had returned, with one exclaiming: 'Glad to see it's back! … Way to go! I wish my booty looked that good!'



Spreading the word: Ms Tonjes talks openly about her weight on her YouTube channel in a bid to 'create a dialogue, not about weight acceptance, but self-love'

Ms Tonjes, a musician and video blogger, openly talks about her weight and body issues on her YouTube channel.



She previously told 700stories.com that her aim is to provide the public with a 'more accurate and hopefully a more positive view of curvy women.'

