Carlos Fentanes

Over the past month, I’ve embarked on a seemingly Sisyphean task: scrubbing my Instagram account clean of any posts that the platform deems non-compliant with its vaguely articulated guidelines on sexually explicit material or something along those lines; I can barely remember what they call it anymore.

Each day, without fail, Instagram flags around five of my posts as violations. But the latest flagging was beyond anything I could have anticipated: my own art statement in my profile, or perhaps my photo—I’m not entirely sure—was deemed inappropriate. Inappropriate? In what universe?

Here’s what my profile said:

Carlos Fentanes Toronto-based Artist
Hyperrealistic Paintings and Drawings
BIC Pen

What’s wrong with that? God only knows. Or perhaps, more aptly, only AI knows.

The past month has been a relentless nightmare for both me and my art. My attempts to promote my work are being systematically thwarted by Meta’s new AI. This, despite my best efforts to adhere to their opaque guidelines on sexually explicit content—a mere two lines of ambiguity that leave everything to interpretation.

In a fit of frustration and dark humor, I decided to tweak my profile. It now reads:

Carlos Fentanes
Toronto-based Artist
Unapologetically and Unintentionally Censored Pornographer on IG
BIC Pen

I reached out to Don’t Delete Art, a collective dedicated to highlighting the plight of artists whose work is unjustly censored on social media. They featured me this week, and we’re collaborating on a video to shed light on this pervasive issue. Stay tuned.

Follow Don’t Delete Art on Instagram to stay informed.