The BBC Reports on the Deletion of Adult Instagram Accounts and Here’s What to Do About It

by Dirk Hooper

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Recently the BBC had an article titled “Why is Instagram deleting the accounts of hundreds of porn stars?“

The BBC is shedding light on something that many of you already know about personally. If you are in the adult entertainment business or a sex worker of any sort Instagram has you targeted.

From the BBC article,

Hundreds of porn stars and sex workers had their Instagram accounts deleted this year, and many say they’re being held to a different standard than mainstream celebrities.

“I should be able to model my Instagram account on Sharon Stone or any other verified profile, but the reality is that doing that would get me deleted,” says Alana Evans, president of the Adult Performers Actors Guild and one of the leading voices in the battle that adult stars are waging to stay on the platform.

Ms Evans’ group has collected a list of more than 1,300 performers who claim that their accounts have been deleted by Instagram’s content moderators for violations of the site’s community standards, despite not showing any nudity or sex.

“They discriminate against us because they don’t like what we do for a living,” Ms Evans says.

And,

Ms Banks says that removing adult performers and sex workers from social media is another way of marginalizing these groups by removing them from their primary – or, in some cases, only – marketing channel.

“The people reporting us don’t understand that people’s incomes are affected, or they don’t care. They think that we shouldn’t be doing this job or it shouldn’t exist.”

I think is an important article and there’s a lot more to it than what I just quoted.

The BBC article focuses on porn stars but I know from posting my own content on that platform, and I want to note that the content that I place on there is non-explicit, that I have had content removed and strikes against my account on photos that if it came from a celebrity or one of their influencers would’ve been fine.

I get reports daily from professional dominatrices, cam models, adult performers, and others who have had their accounts removed with little to no explanation.

I completely understand if through frustration or just not wanting to waste your time you have decided to not participate on Instagram.

Personally, I believe that it’s important to not let social media force us into marginalized ghettos on the Internet. I also think it’s important for us to reach out to a much wider audience than just those who are searching for adult content. And finally, if you walk away from Instagram then you are potentially walking away from their 1 billion users.

Finally, I just don’t want to let the bastards win.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what fits with their brand and what they believe personally. And in whatever you decide is always correct for you.

However, if you decide that you want to stick around and build your brand, followers, and engagement on Instagram, and you are an adult content creator or you market to adults, I have a few suggestions.

Your name

If your name is Fuckulicious or Mistress Ruth, my advice is to consider using a name that doesn’t attract attention from Instagram.

Just dropping your honorific is one way to achieve that.

As far as personal branding goes I always suggest having the exact same name everywhere, but if it comes to having your account removed or using your name without mistress or goddess or something similar, then dropping your title could be a solution.

Your links

If you’re linking to adult content directly in your profile or perhaps even in your posts then it’s possible that will attract the attention of Instagram.

I think you’re probably better off linking to your own website if you have one, or to a profile where you can share adult content.

I realize this is tricky because the main reason you’re on social media in the first place is to funnel people into your content. Just know that some large adult platforms are likely to trigger Instagram’s attention.

Hashtags

Several months ago I put a non-explicit photo of a fully clothed woman sitting on the face of a man where you can only see his eyes. When I uploaded the photo one of the hashtags I used was #facesitting. When I posted it it was immediately flagged, removed, and I received a warning on my account.

A few weeks later I posted the exact same photo without the hashtag and there was no problem.

So, don’t put yourself on Instagram’s radar by using hashtags that are likely banned phrases. It’s very easy to figure out whether hashtags are banned on Instagram by seeing which ones come up through their suggestions.

The articles below do not contain a complete list of banned hashtags on Instagram but they  do have some great advice on hashtag use.

https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/instagram-banned-hashtags-2018/

https://socialbuddy.com/banned-instagram-hashtags/

The body of your post

Much like hashtags be careful about what you put in the body of your Instagram posts. Since Instagram wants to pretend like that it is a safe place for children, be mindful of what you’re saying in your posts.

Speaking in more general terms about your content instead of frank terms like you would on Twitter or adult platforms could make a difference for you.

With that said, Instagram can remove you for literally any reason they come up with, and many of the account removals are the result of bitter assholes reporting people, so there is no way to assure that you won’t be targeted. What I’m emphasizing here is to not make it easy or obvious for them to target you.

Rethink your plan on Instagram

Much like the successful influencers on that platform if you share content on there that builds who you are and what you’re about then it could create interest in you that leads people to find you on other platforms where your adult content is prominent.

Instead of using Instagram as a direct funnel to your adult content consider using Instagram as more of a lifestyle or brand building exercise.

The idea is to use Instagram in a way that still allows you access to those 1 billion users but doesn’t bring you in direct conflict with the sensors on that platform.

In a perfect world, this wouldn’t be an issue. But the reality is that if you find value on Instagram and don’t want to rebuild followers constantly then changing your strategy and using Instagram in a different way could be successful for you.