Rogue vegans and blurry fish? How Instagram started to find food offensive

Social media firms are getting duped into over-zealous monitoring, and leaving businesses scratching their heads

Shell-shocked: snaps of fresh seafood caused a social media kerfuffle (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

I wonder if militant vegans are taking their campaign to demonise some of Britain’s traditional foods to new levels of idiocy on social media.

A fishmonger in west London recently had his Instagram account censored after posting pictures of his wares online. Who would have thought an unadorned halibut or a whole haddock could cause such upset?

Someone complained about Rex Goldsmith’s snaps of fresh fish, and a warning appeared over a blurred image saying “this contains sensitive content that many may find offensive or disturbing”. Goldsmith immediately speculated the complaint might have come from a vegan activist. For me, it’s the word “many” that I find extremely offensive.

Instagram have now removed the message and apologised, but the Chelsea fishmonger, whose customers include celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, isn’t the only food website to have experienced over-zealous monitoring.

Padella, an excellent pasta restaurant near London’s Borough Market, regularly posts pictures of their new dishes for customers. They were astonished to find a photograph of a dead grouse (which was going to be turned into ragu sauce) was deemed offensive by Instagram, and given a warning caption (which is still online). Images of plucked chickens have also been censored on other sites.

In a couple of weeks St. John restaurant (the home of nose-to-tail eating) in Smithfield is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new cookbook (The Book of St John). Foodies travel from all over the world to sample their signature dishes of bone marrow, crispy pigs ears and devilled kidneys. I hope they’ve laid on extra security for party night.