Instagram users report “shadow ban” for sharing pro-Palestinian stories; Meta cites ‘bug’ as cause

Instagram users have reported a significant decrease in the reach of their posts related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

It affected accounts globally and specifically impacted Stories that re-shared Reels and Feed posts, leading to significantly reduced reach.

Meta, the company behind Instagram, has recognized this matter.

Their communications director, Andy Stone, shared on platform X that the issue, confirmed on Monday, Oct 16, was indeed a “bug” and unrelated to the content’s subject matter.

“We identified a bug impacting all Stories that re-shared Reels and Feed posts, meaning they weren’t showing up properly in people’s Stories tray, leading to significantly reduced reach.

“This bug affected accounts equally around the globe and had nothing to do with the subject matter of the content – and we fixed it as quickly as possible,” said Meta.

Meta statement on concerns about the visibility of Stories.

“We identified a bug impacting all Stories that re-shared Reels and Feed posts, meaning they weren’t showing up properly in people’s Stories tray, leading to significantly reduced reach. This bug affected accounts…

— Andy Stone (@andymstone) October 15, 2023

“Shadow ban” after posts related to Israel-Hamas conflict

A “shadow-ban” involves blocking or reducing a user’s reach without their knowledge, making their posts or comments less visible to others.

Affected users turned to other social media platforms to share screenshots showing reduced engagement on their posts regarding the escalating conflict.

Among those impacted, investigative reporter Azmat Khan voiced apprehensions regarding the issue, revealing that following the “posting of an Instagram story about the war in Gaza,” her account was subjected to a “shadow ban.”

“It’s an extraordinary threat to the flow of information and credible journalism about an unprecedented war.”

“Many colleagues and journalist friends also reported similar experiences,” she added.

After posting an Instagram story about the war in Gaza yesterday, my account was shadowbanned. Many colleagues and journalists friends have reported the same. It’s an extraordinary threat to the flow of information and credible journalism about an unprecedented war…

— Azmat Khan (@AzmatZahra) October 15, 2023

Influencers and members of the public have also spoken out about their experiences of being “shadow-banned,” purportedly following the posting of stories related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Malaysian content creator Sabrina Azhar appears to have been impacted by the “shadow ban” too, posting a screenshot of her removed Instagram post on platform X.

can’t handle the truth? @Meta pic.twitter.com/mdIoeoj3ff

— 사브리나 (@jpbrinx) October 16, 2023

my insta story post on palestine got shadowbanned ya. the views are so slow 🫣 pic.twitter.com/7XdJdEw50u

— mil⁷ 🇲🇾 (@joontidie) October 14, 2023

been hit with that instagram shadow ban, they’re censoring individuals just for posting about palestine? they’re really manipulating the algorithm trying to limit our voices with everything they’ve got pic.twitter.com/zrkRm2n8MT

— AZ. (@FlashyAyy) October 14, 2023