Porn Stars: Instagram Keeps Deleting Our Accounts for No Reason

"They discriminate against us because they don’t like what we do for a living."

Double Standard

Porn stars and sex workers say that Instagram keeps deleting their accounts — even when their posts don't violate the site's content standards, according to a new BBC News story.

"They discriminate against us because they don't like what we do for a living," Alana Evans, president of the Adult Performers Actors Guild, told BBC News of Instagram's content moderators.

Out of Income

Performers who spoke to BBC News said it appears that an individual or group of individuals started reporting the profiles in late-2018 in the hopes of having them removed.

And it seems to be working — the Adult Performers Actors Guild now has a list of more than 1,300 performers who say Instagram deleted their accounts despite a lack of rule violations.

"The people reporting us don't understand that people's incomes are affected, or they don't care," Ginger Banks, an adult performer and sex workers' rights activist, told BBC News. "They think that we shouldn't be doing this job or it shouldn't exist."

Judgy McJudgerson

That's not just speculation on Banks' part, either. Many of the performers said the reporting of their account was often followed by abusive messages deriding them for their choice of profession.

"[Y]our IG account was deleted due to your porn activities," Omid, an anti-porn campaigner, wrote to adult performer Lacey Jane on Twitter. "[L]eave porn and live a better and more respectful life than today."

READ MORE: Why is Instagram deleting the accounts of hundreds of porn stars? [BBC News]

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