Life coach Vivace Maxvictor’s Instagram account was restricted because she had posted content advocating on behalf of hostages in Hamas captivity, she claimed on Thursday in a recorded discussion with customer service for the social media platform.
An Instagram customer service agent allegedly told Maxvictor last Tuesday that her account was in violation of the platform’s policies with her numerous posts about hostages, and had limited the account’s visibility for 45 days.
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“It’s showing violence,” the customer service agent said according to the recording.
The agent indicated that the term “hostage” was tied to violence. Maxvictor argued that violence was about hurting someone or threatening to hurt someone, and to call for the release of people held against their will was an act of peace.
'Don't post about the hostages'
“We highly suggest not to post that type of content,” said the customer service agent.
It was recommended that Maxvictor instead post on Instagram about her daily life. Maxvictor told her that advocating for hostages was her daily life.
“Instagram is demonstrating complete disregard for the hostages and their families, while systematically blocking and censoring Jewish voices across the globe,” Maxvictor wrote.
NGO StopAntisemitism shared the recording on X, where Meta spokesperson Andy Stone apologized for the incident and said that Maxvictor’s account had been restored.
“We very much regret that this happened.” Stone said on Friday. “The content does not violate our community standards; it has been restored and there are no restrictions on the account. We’re also evaluating ways to improve the support we offer.”
Maxvictor said on Saturday that she had received an apology.
In response to the video, dozens of other Instagram users shared that they had a similar experience with their account being throttled for sharing similar pro-Israel content.