Instagram Account of Marine’s Mother Was Suspended in Error
The Claim
Instagram has disabled the account of the mother of a deceased marine because she criticized President Biden.
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Emerging story
A number of social media users have been posting about the recent experience of Shana Chappell, the mother of a marine who was recently killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan. These users claimed that Instagram censored her criticism of President Biden on Instagram by suspending her account.
These posts soon became popular, gaining thousands of interactions within hours.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation concludes that Instagram’s decision to suspend Chappell’s account was quickly reversed and that Facebook (which owns Instagram) stated that the suspension was incorrect. We could not determine exactly how long the account suspension remained in place, but it could not have been much longer than 24 hours at a maximum. Chappell posted to Facebook that her Instagram account had been suspended on the 30th of August. On the 31st of August, reports stated that the account had been restored.
Additionally, while Chappell’s criticism of President Biden did not violate Instagram’s policies, there is evidence that she has posted content that violated policies in the past. For example, one recent post called for those opposed to President Biden to fight him, which likely violates Instagram’s policies against inciting violence. Another recent post spread misinformation about coronavirus vaccines, which also violates the site’s policies.
It is almost certain that Instagram would not have made the decision to suspend Chappell’s account had she not previously posted a significant amount of content that violated the site’s policies. Since 2019, Instagram has had a policy of removing accounts that post a certain amount of content that violates its rules within a short window of time. It also notifies users if they are at risk of having their account disabled before taking such action.
