Instagram is blocking lesbian, gay and bisexual content, by censoring images collated under a range of gay hashtags. The blocked tags include #lesbian, #gays, #lesbians, #bi. Some other hashtags such as #gay, are not. When attempting to browse
certain hashtags, users are shown a select few images, along with the following message: Recent posts from #lesbian are currently hidden because the community has reported some content that may not meet Instagram's
community guidelines.
A spokescensor for Instagram told HuffPost UK that these hashtags have been restricted to a top posts setting, which is reserved for hashtags that contain a large amount of violating content .
When a hashtag is censored in this way, Instagram removes the most recent section and only display 33 top posts , which have been approved by moderators. This will remain the case until the hashtags are no longer used to post violating content
. Users can still post images using the hashtag, but the images just won't collate on the page. |