Social media

Canaries in the coal mine: is the art world facing a rising tide of censorship?

The death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last month, after years of confinement in a Siberian jail, and subsequent quelling of protest, emphasised the flourishing of censorship across a globe riven by geopolitical crises, in a year when democracy is put to the test in more than 70 countries. With the threat of electoral misinformation being boosted by AI-generated content and social media algorithms, artists have been warning of new kinds of censorship. The effect is being felt in real life, online and in social media

Tate hits 12.5 million social media followers: what is behind its success?

Senior social media manager Nell Burnham reports that the @tate account, which serves both Tate Modern and Tate Britain, doubled its video views to 65 million in 2023

We're hiring! Social Media Producer

The Art Newspaper is looking for an enthusiastic candidate to join its London team

Why all museums need an in-house TikToker

Keen to capitalise on the social media channel's rising profile in the art world, the Peabody Essex Museum hired two dedicated creators in residence

AI to Z: an art and tech alphabet for 2023

Our guide to a fast-moving year in artificial intelligence, blockchain contracts, stadium-scale video, NFTs and social media

How TikTok coaches art world institutions to go viral

The social media platform's lifestyle and education team has been offering services to companies like Sotheby's to help improve content and grow followings

Does coverage of Sotheby's Freddie Mercury sales show that auctions are perfect TikTok fodder?

Videos of bidding battles for the Queen frontman's possessions resulted in the auction house doubling its TikTok followers in less than a week

Invisible by numbers: artists must remain vigilant to escape censorship loop created by social media shadowbans

New European regulations have required Instagram to reveal how some artists’ accounts have been deprived of visibility. But fears remain over who has access to the culture-shaping power of social media

Pulling at loose Threads: should the art world sign up to the latest social media app?

Art world figures are forging new personalities on the new 'Twitter clone' from Meta

Diaryblog

Museums go for broke on new social media platform Threads

Major institutions are falling over themselves to be funny on the new rival to Twitter

Activists plan day of action, online and at New York museums, against social media censorship of art

After collecting signatures outside art institutions, the group Don’t Delete Art will deliver its manifesto to Meta’s Manhattan headquarters

Instagram’s new tools prove ‘shadowbanning’ is real—and now artists are trapped

Many users are beginning to wonder if the platform's guidelines have any positive value

Censorshipcomment

'The nipple has not been freed! The art world must continue to fight Meta over gender discrimination'

Social media giant has been taken to task for its notorious “female nipple” guideline, but the battle for creatives' freedom of expression is not yet over

Revealed: the top 20 most popular art museums on social media in 2023

We look at how the 100 most-visited museums in our Visitor Figures survey performed online

Aimee Dawson. Research conducted by Chinma Johnson-Nwosu

Hong Kong is back with bang: Art Basel returns and M+ museum makes waves

Plus, art censorship online and Brenda L. Croft's photos of fellow First Nations Australian women

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. With guest speaker Gareth Harris. Produced by David Clack and Julia Michalska
Sponsored byChristie's

Don’t delete art! Project documenting censorship on social media launches manifesto

New campaign hopes to convince companies like Facebook and Instagram to bring artists into the content moderation process

Five ways ChatGPT could help the culture sector create social media content

AI chatbot software has made waves by creating convincingly human speech and text—could it transform communications in the arts?

Steven Franklin

Five insider tips and trends for art world social media in 2023

Digital experts in the cultural field—Alec Ward, Adam Koszary and Chris Unitt—share their predictions for platforms this year

Digital Ageanalysis

New online safety laws aim to protect children—but will they harm artists?

As the UK’s troubled Online Safety Bill finally looks set to become law, there are still concerns about whether it will get the balance between online safety and censorship right

Are you being 'shadowbanned'? Instagram announces new transparency tools that reveal if posts go against guidelines

New functions show if content goes against the social media platform's Recommendation Guidelines that it uses to decide what should be promoted and searchable

Mediaanalysis

‘Artists have a lot in common with sex workers’: OnlyFans becoming popular platform for artists censored elsewhere

Censorship by more mainstream social media platforms has artists turning to OnlyFans to promote their work

Is it time to #Twexit? How Elon Musk’s Twitter shake-up has divided creatives

With the platform's new owner firing moderators, some artists are hoping for an end to censorship while others fear discrimination

US laws meant to stop sex trafficking are making it difficult for artists to promote and sell their art online

A set of ambiguous laws has pushed platforms to refuse service to artists whose work includes nude imagery or could be construed as sexual

Fleeing Twitter? Sick of Instagram? Eight lesser-known social media sites for the art world to try

More than a million users have left Twitter since business magnate took over the platform

Changing of the guard: why it’s time for the art world to take a step back from Instagram

The "Insta' gratification" column will now explore the full spectrum of social media and its uses in the art world

Artists tell Instagram ‘stop trying to be TikTok’ in online petition

Campaign demands that Meta stop tinkering and start listening to creators