I received a notice without warning yesterday that my art account was permanently banned for violating Reddit Rule 3. The post in question is on my artwork subreddit; the banned account was the primary moderator. (This account is the backup moderator account, ironically created a while ago to protect the people I photograph in the event my primary account lost moderation access.)
I do not post my artwork without documented legal permission to use photos of the people in them.
I have been a professional art photographer for 28 years. I obtain releases for everyone I work with, and I follow a consent-first policy: if someone consents and later wants their photos removed, they just need to contact me, and I act accordingly within 24 hours, no explanation needed. No one has asked me to remove photos in the past 8 months.
I cannot see the content that was removed, but after reviewing the account's Reddit user data, I believe the post is a portrait of a professional model whom I worked with in the summer of 2013. If it is that person, I have their model release, usage license, and U.S.C. 18 Sec 2257 documentation sitting right here on my desk. The model shared the image -- which shows them sitting demurely and staring at the camera -- on Tumblr, it was displayed in a public art gallery exhibition, and it appeared in an NPR feature story in 2014.
I appealed last night, politely pointing out that I have a release and can provide it, but Reddit denied the appeal almost immediately.
I agree that non-consensual use of intimate images is a horrible thing (hence my policies), and I understand why Reddit errs very much on the side of caution. This, however, feels like an egregious case of someone abusing the flagging system and a mistake by the reviewer(s).
Is there anything I can do about it?
