Why is Instagram deleting the accounts of hundreds of porn stars?

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Ginger Banks; Getty Images

Hundreds of porn stars and sex workers had their Instagram accounts deleted this year, and many say that 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.

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@sabrinathebunny

The campaigning led to a meeting with Instagram representatives in June, followed by the establishment of a new appeal system for removed accounts. During the summer, however, the talks halted and accounts belonging to adult performers have continued to be deleted.

‘Last straw’

Ms Evans was particularly upset when the account of porn star Jessica Jaymes was removed after her death in September.

“When I saw that Jessica’s account was deleted, my heart sunk. It was the last straw,” she says.

The account, which is followed by more than 900,000 people, was later reinstated.

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Getty Images

In late 2018, adult performers say, an individual or a number of individuals started a co-ordinated campaign to report accounts to social media platforms, with the clear intent of having them removed.

This was often followed by harassment and intimidation, in the form of abusive messages. An anonymous individual – known in the industry as “Omid” – frequently boasted of being personally responsible for hundreds of deletions.

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Adult performer and sex workers’ rights activist Ginger Banks was one of the first targets of the…