Meta did not respond to the INDY\u2019s request for comment about the account suspensions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cPretty much 90% of our marketing and promotion is done through Instagram,\u201d said Dix, emphasizing that Instagram is one of the only ways for minority-owned businesses and LGBTQ creators to reach audiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dix opened Club ERA, a queer, gay, and trans nightclub in June 2024<\/a> on South Dillard Street in Durham. Over the years, Dix has built a following of 5,600 on her personal account and 8,000 on the club account; together, the two have served as go-to hubs for locals to learn about drag shows, queer events, and community resources. Dix frequently cross-promotes posts from the LGBTQ Center of Durham that share resources about sexual assault, mental health, and safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dix said that she initially got a message from Instagram saying that it was removing three Club ERA posts for \u201cviolating community standards.\u201d The message prompted her to hit a button accepting the decision, which she did.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNot even five minutes later I was automatically logged out of my account,\u201d Dix says. \u201cI got an email about 10 minutes later saying, \u2018If you would like to appeal this decision, please hit appeal.\u2019 I didn\u2019t know what decision I was appealing, because I didn\u2019t get any sort of notification that something was wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A few minutes after she appealed, Dix said she was notified that the appeal had been rejected and that the Club ERA account had been shut down. Her personal account, which was linked to the business Instagram, was also shuttered.<\/p>\n \u201cI really wish I could get your account restored, but trust me, for now I have no stone unturned,\u201d the Meta AI support chat wrote, in screenshots reviewed by the INDY. \u201cHowever, I hope that you understand there is no possible option to reverse this decision now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Community members, including Drag Queen Stormie Daie and Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, have called on<\/a> Instagram users to tag Meta in posts asking the company to reinstate Dix\u2019s accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Meta did not supply Dix with a reason for the ban, the posts it flagged\u2014one of which was from a year ago\u2014included an image of a shirtless dancer and a harness strapped to a person\u2019s chest, with accompanying text advertising a queer kink party and drag show. <\/p>\n According to Meta\u2019s guidelines<\/a>, prohibited images include photorealistic images of \u201cBDSM (bondage and discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism), only when sexual indicators are also present.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To Dix, these flags represent a bias in Meta\u2019s policies and the software it uses to detect violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAI doesn\u2019t understand intention,\u201d said Dix. \u201cIt makes these grave mistakes because it has no sort of reference. And these mistakes are really affecting the queer community because of the cultural wording that we\u2019re using.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Dix isn\u2019t alone in this: In 2023, Human Rights Watch released a report<\/a> condemning Meta\u2019s censorship of pro-Palestine content. Over the past few years, organizations that work in queer and reproductive health have also increasingly reported<\/a> restrictions from the social media titan with little explanation or recourse.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s terms of service have also been widely criticized for being vague and inconsistently applied, as in the BDSM rule, when the phrase \u201csexual indicators\u201d is open to broad interpretation. A similarly opaque Meta ban on images of female breasts (men\u2019s chests are allowed) has an exception for images \u201cdepicting acts of protest,\u201d though it\u2019s unclear what constitutes such an act.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If archiving whole chunks of life on Instagram\u2014or relying on the platform for visibility, in the case of content creators and businesses\u2014seems casual, the finality of Meta\u2019s black-box backend offers a reality check. Creating a new account is also not an option for banned users: Dix tried to sign up for one using another name, email, and phone number, and said it was immediately deactivated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know for a fact that Instagram really prides itself on creating healthy businesses for a brick-and-mortar\u2014their whole thing is about visibility,\u201d said Dix. \u201cFor them to be this quick \u2026 to disband my entire business, is frightening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Dix told the INDY she is planning to pursue legal action against Meta. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d said Dix, \u201cThis is 12 years of my intellectual property.\u201d<\/p>\n To comment on this story, email [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. <\/p>\n \t![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-Event-Posters-Mobile-Video.png\")
One of the posts that Naomi Dix says was flagged by Instagram for violating community standards. Photo courtesy of Naomi Dix. <\/p>\n