Hello team! 

Thanks for signing, sharing and raising awareness of the petition. With your help, we’ve made it past 25,000 signatures. It’s fantastic to see a variety of communities and users on the Internet get together for such an important issue that will slowly but surely affect most users on social media.

While many users across various industries are affected by Instagram’s policies, it’s sex workers, and particularly sex workers of colour, who are increasingly being deplatformed by social media. From the aftermath of FOSTA/SESTA in the United States to the threats posed by the shift towards the Nordic Model in countries like the UK, there are less and less platforms for sex workers to earn a living in 2020. 

As one of the fastest growing social networks, Instagram is a key space for freedom of expression and to earn a living. Yet, even if IG claim they want to keep their users safe, by applying their moderation guidelines unequally and unclearly they are taking a source of income away from them during a global pandemic. While the platform’s Community Guidelines were already in place before the announcement of the new Terms of Use coming into force on 20 December, it’s the enforcement of these guidelines - already resulting in account deletions - that is new and worrying for users from a spectrum of backgrounds. 

This is bigger than a single community or user group. Standing up for the rights of those who are currently being deplatformed by the biggest social media platform conglomerate means fighting for a safe, free Internet. Sooner or later, this will affect all of us. 

Please continue sharing and signing, in the hope to engage Instagram in a meaningful conversation with a variety of users who rely on it for work, for networking and to express themselves. 

Carolina

P.S. In case you’d like to personally write to Instagram to explain how their policies affect you or the users you follow, here’s an email template to get you started, too.