OTTAWA – In response to Instagram’s shutdown of the @WeVibe handle, which the company said came without a warning or any accounting for the alleged terms violation which led to the account’s shutdown, pleasure products company We-Vibe has launched a campaign dubbed #UnmutePleasure, through which the brand is “rallying support from the industry and the broader community.”
“Instagram continues to censor content arbitrarily,” We-Vibe said in a press release issued Thursday. “They disable sex- and pleasure-positive accounts and justify their actions by claiming a violation of their terms. Earlier this week, Instagram shut down the popular @WeVibe handle, giving no warning, no description of the violation, or offering an opportunity to dispute the claim.”
In a policy update published in April, Instagram seemed to downplay the extent of its policing of content that “might not be appropriate for our global community,” adding that “we’ll limit those types of posts from being recommended on Explore and hashtag pages.”
As noted by TechCrunch, the Instagram policy is hopelessly vague from a user or content creator’s point of view.
“Creators currently have no guidelines about what constitutes borderline content — there’s nothing in Instagram’s rules or terms of service that even mention non-recommendable content or what qualifies,” Josh Constine wrote for TechCrunch at the time. “The only information Instagram has provided was what it shared at today’s event. The company specified that violent, graphic/shocking, sexually suggestive, misinformation and spam content can be deemed ‘non-recommendable’ and therefore won’t appear on Explore or hashtag pages.”
While We-Vibe’s current frustration stems from having its account shut down, Denny Alexander, the company’s head of communications, emphasized that “this is bigger than We-Vibe.”
“Instagram’s censorship and shutting of sex-positive accounts is affecting our whole community,” Alexander said. “We started this campaign to bring attention to the issue and to act as a rallying point for the industry. We’re asking retailers, educators, bloggers, and other brands to stand with us and tell Instagram that it’s time to #UnmutePleasure.”
We-Vibe is asking supporters to share the #UnmutePleasure image on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
“Tag @Instagram and tell them why it’s important to foster sex- and pleasure-positive voices, like @WeVibe, on the platform,” We-Vibe said in its release, adding that the company has “contacted Instagram to dispute the account closure, but Instagram has yet to respond.”
