Controversial Content and Censorship

Vine prides itself on its censorship-free governance (Biggs, 2013).  Thus, in its terms of service, the company explains “We may, but are not required to monitor or control the Content posted via the Services and we cannot take responsibility for such Content” (Terms, 2014).

This has led to some controversial norms on the application. Vine has been criticized for its governance regarding racist content. Clark (2013) explains that “[M]any unoriginal Vine comedians have resorted to racial slurs and stereotypes […] to substantiate their six seconds of internet glory.” The video below showcases how white users can perpetuate arguably oppressive stereotypes of minorities.

Clark (2013) argues that the circulation of this type of content enables users to passively accept stereotypes as truths, and make racism a lighthearted joke.  However, one might also observe this as Vine giving minorities the ability to tell their own story and create satire to criticize an oppressive society. This can be seen in the second clip from the video below.

In addition to this, Vine has been observed as a positive force for minorities of the LGBTQ2 community.  Vine is reported to humanize prominent LGBTQ2 figures by displaying their daily activities with unfiltered filming on a less aesthetically-oriented medium than Instagram (Duguay, 2016, p. 9).

The unfiltered quality remains controversial with the consideration of Vine’s porn problem.  John Biggs from Tech Crunch (2013) explains that on Vine, one can use tags such as “#porn” to easily locate content of the suggested type.  This would not be so much of an issue if Vine’s policy on children provided a little more clarity and restriction.

Vine’s Privacy Policy explains that the company’s services are not directed to people under the age of 13 (Vine privacy, 2016).  However, when a user downloads the application, it is identified as age +17 (Duguay, 2016).  The discrepancy here shows the ambivalence in their regulations.



Vine also expresses “If you become aware that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us.” However, relevant email address is not identified on their contact us page (Contact us).  This shows that Vine fails to equip parents with the resources to protect their child, which makes sense considering the rest of their laissez faire governance.

Works Cited

Biggs, J. (2013). Twitter's Vine has a porn problem. TechCrunch. Retrieved December 1, 2016 from
https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/27/twitters-vine-has-a-porn-problem/

Clark, S. (2013). Vine racism in not acceptable. El Gato News. Retrieved December 1, 2016 from https://elgatonews.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/vine-racism-in-not-acceptable/

Contact us. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2016 from https://vine.co/contact

Duguay, S. (2016). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer visibility through selfies: Comparing platform mediators across Ruby Rose’s Instagram and Vine presence, Social Media + Society, 2 (2), 1-12.

Terms of service. (2014). Retrieved December 1, 2016 from https://vine.co/terms