Speaking at an event hosted by Dazed Media in Shoreditch, London, Mr Systrom explained that violating Apple’s guidelines could risk the app being removed, the Business Insider reported.
Apple’s App Store explicitly bans nudity within apps unless it is rated suitable for those aged over 17, according to the organisation’s Review Guidelines.
As Instagram aims to appeal to as many users as possible, gaining a higher age rating to allow more explicit content would alienate younger users, Mr Systrom said.
Instagram operates under a 12+ rating, which under App Store Guidelines “may contain frequent or intense cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence, mild or infrequent mature or suggestive themes… which may not be suitable for children under the age of 12”.
According to Instagram’s Basic Terms of Use, users may not post “nude”, “partially nude” or “pornographic or sexually suggestive” photos on the service.
Instagram’s prohibition of female nudity has been contested by campaigns such as #FreetheNipple, which identifies a double standard of censoring female nipples while allowing the male equivalent in Instagram photos.