4 ms·

Instagram Bans BLM

45 points by dukeofdoom 5y ago

h2odragon 5y ago
"rules aren't supposed to apply to US too!"
jimmygrapes 5y ago
"I'm banned for advocating violence therefore I will get violent" says the Twitter user (paraphrased). Sounds like Big Tech has no more use for the useful idiots, to me. Wonder what changed?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
rvz 5y ago
Unsurprising. Did groups like BLM really think that companies like Instagram were 'on their side' in the first place when they had their black banners everywhere? Of course not. Companies like Instagram are not on anyone's side and do not care about their users complaints and only care about increasing their profits through whatever means necessary and possible. At the end of the day, they can remove or ban anyone they want for violating their 'guidelines'.
- newacc9 5y ago
  Profit optimization doesn't explain everything.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
  [dead]
- octorian 5y ago
  One thing that got a bit lost in all of this is that "BLM" stands for two things... 1. A literal phrase that's not very controversial on its own, which many automatically agreed with and stood by. 2. An organization with its own motives and agenda, which enjoyed a period of automatic support as a side-effect. Most of the outpouring of support was likely for the phrase, whereas much of the pushback was likely against the organization. Not sure where all of this stands now, since its left the news cycle.
  - rvz 5y ago
    > Most of the outpouring of support was likely for the phrase, whereas much of the pushback was likely against the organization. Precisely. For anyone who disagreed with their actions and agreed with the phrase, that was the trap in all of this as I previously said. [0] and that probably happened with lots of people and companies, including Instagram. If one 'disagreed' with 'BLM', they are labeled as 'racist' automatically. Which is why it was very important to distinguish between the phrase vs the organisation itself. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24862982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24862982
cirrus3 5y ago
What is "Instagram"? Yawn. /s
xwdv 5y ago
The true BLM movement has long been over IMO. It seems whatever it is now is just a thinly veiled branding on top of generic minority outrage and violence.
- aparsons 5y ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - epgui 5y ago
    Even if I accept everything you just said 100% at face value, and even if I think that's bad or sketchy, what does that have to do with anything?
    - rswskg 5y ago
      I think the point is, you've been suckered.
throwaway984393 5y ago
Can anyone provide any actual proof that Instagram has banned BLM content? Looking at twitter feeds like that makes my head hurt.
- oh_sigh 5y ago
  They haven't, since the official BLM page is still active: https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter
  - oarabbus_ 5y ago
    That's a twitter link, not an Instagram link
CodeGlitch 5y ago
Why was this news item flagged? It's about a tech company. Anyway if this is true it's not surprising a company (capitalist) is now pushing out a Marxist organisation. Some people talk about needing to separate BLM, the slogan, from the organisation and people behind it... But I could never achieve that, especially from the perspective of the UK where "defund the police" made zero sense and would be a terrible idea. (Yes I know everyone has a different idea about what "defund" means here... Which is a problem in itself).
- dang 5y ago
  Users flagged it. We can only guess why users flag things, but perhaps it was because the title was rewritten in a way that breaks the site guidelines, and makes a very strong claim that is not easy to objectively evaluate. Usually when claims like that appear on the internet, they are jumping to conclusions from unclear data—not always, of course—sometimes the claims turn out to be true. But moderation is guesswork. Given the priors on submissions/tweets/claims like this, the initial guess has to be that it is unlikely that Instagram has banned BLM. If it really has happened, then the story is obviously on topic for HN. In that case there were certainly be some investigative reporting about it soon, as thinkingemote points out. Someone can submit that and we can have a thread about it. As a bonus, if such reporting appears to confirm the claim, it will include more information, which will make for a more substantive, less flamewar discussion. This thread is pretty terrible, as is usually the case with very short posts (e.g. tweets) that are low-information on a high-octane topic.
  - CodeGlitch 5y ago
    Appreciated dang
- thinkingemote 5y ago
  The source is Twitter. Im sure the news will, if true, hit the, well, the news and be resubmitted.

45 points by dukeofdoom 5y ago

"rules aren't supposed to apply to US too!"

"I'm banned for advocating violence therefore I will get violent" says the Twitter user (paraphrased). Sounds like Big Tech has no more use for the useful idiots, to me. Wonder what changed?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

rvz 5y ago

Unsurprising. Did groups like BLM really think that companies like Instagram were 'on their side' in the first place when they had their black banners everywhere? Of course not. Companies like Instagram are not on anyone's side and do not care about their users complaints and only care about increasing their profits through whatever means necessary and possible. At the end of the day, they can remove or ban anyone they want for violating their 'guidelines'.

newacc9 5y ago
Profit optimization doesn't explain everything.
MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
[dead]
octorian 5y ago
One thing that got a bit lost in all of this is that "BLM" stands for two things... 1. A literal phrase that's not very controversial on its own, which many automatically agreed with and stood by. 2. An organization with its own motives and agenda, which enjoyed a period of automatic support as a side-effect. Most of the outpouring of support was likely for the phrase, whereas much of the pushback was likely against the organization. Not sure where all of this stands now, since its left the news cycle.
- rvz 5y ago
  > Most of the outpouring of support was likely for the phrase, whereas much of the pushback was likely against the organization. Precisely. For anyone who disagreed with their actions and agreed with the phrase, that was the trap in all of this as I previously said. [0] and that probably happened with lots of people and companies, including Instagram. If one 'disagreed' with 'BLM', they are labeled as 'racist' automatically. Which is why it was very important to distinguish between the phrase vs the organisation itself. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24862982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24862982

cirrus3 5y ago

What is "Instagram"? Yawn. /s

xwdv 5y ago

The true BLM movement has long been over IMO. It seems whatever it is now is just a thinly veiled branding on top of generic minority outrage and violence.

aparsons 5y ago
[flagged]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- epgui 5y ago
  Even if I accept everything you just said 100% at face value, and even if I think that's bad or sketchy, what does that have to do with anything?
  - rswskg 5y ago
    I think the point is, you've been suckered.

throwaway984393 5y ago

Can anyone provide any actual proof that Instagram has banned BLM content? Looking at twitter feeds like that makes my head hurt.

oh_sigh 5y ago
They haven't, since the official BLM page is still active: https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter
- oarabbus_ 5y ago
  That's a twitter link, not an Instagram link

CodeGlitch 5y ago

Why was this news item flagged? It's about a tech company. Anyway if this is true it's not surprising a company (capitalist) is now pushing out a Marxist organisation. Some people talk about needing to separate BLM, the slogan, from the organisation and people behind it... But I could never achieve that, especially from the perspective of the UK where "defund the police" made zero sense and would be a terrible idea. (Yes I know everyone has a different idea about what "defund" means here... Which is a problem in itself).

dang 5y ago
Users flagged it. We can only guess why users flag things, but perhaps it was because the title was rewritten in a way that breaks the site guidelines, and makes a very strong claim that is not easy to objectively evaluate. Usually when claims like that appear on the internet, they are jumping to conclusions from unclear data—not always, of course—sometimes the claims turn out to be true. But moderation is guesswork. Given the priors on submissions/tweets/claims like this, the initial guess has to be that it is unlikely that Instagram has banned BLM. If it really has happened, then the story is obviously on topic for HN. In that case there were certainly be some investigative reporting about it soon, as thinkingemote points out. Someone can submit that and we can have a thread about it. As a bonus, if such reporting appears to confirm the claim, it will include more information, which will make for a more substantive, less flamewar discussion. This thread is pretty terrible, as is usually the case with very short posts (e.g. tweets) that are low-information on a high-octane topic.
- CodeGlitch 5y ago
  Appreciated dang
thinkingemote 5y ago
The source is Twitter. Im sure the news will, if true, hit the, well, the news and be resubmitted.