NBC News Published a report recently on the harms resulting from Instagram’s censorship of content related to sex and sexuality.
The report, written by NBC News Digital tech and culture reporter Kat Tenbarge featuring testimony from adult performers and activists including Abigail Mac and Cherie DeVille.
The article includes comments from Deville who claims they “Live in perpetual fear of losing her 3.7 million Instagram followers”
“Every morning when I first log into my phone, even if it takes a moment to load Instagram, I have an adrenaline rush,” DeVille told NBC News. “Imagine that stress, imagine waking up every morning and wondering if you’ve lost your career.”
Abigail Mac told the reporter that her account has been suspended at least four times and getting it back has entailed "emailing Instagram 10 to 15 times every day for three to four weeks."
Tenbarge noted that for adult influencers, “platforms like Instagram have become ‘completely invaluable’ for driving traffic to personal websites where performers make money,” adding that many see the company’s moderation efforts as having become “more punitive and less predictable” since the passage of SESTA-FOSTA.
Sex workers told Tenbarge that they “go to great lengths to stay within the boundaries of Instagram’s guidelines, keenly aware that their content could be struck and their accounts restricted at any moment,” but despite best efforts to post within terms of services, Instagram still removed their content and/or banned or suspended them.
The sex workers also told NBC News that Instagram’s guidelines are inconsistently enforced, especially when compared to content posted by mainstream celebrities.
You can find the article on NBC.
