Instagram Is Still Punishing Trans and Non-Binary People

I posted about anti-trans legislation, Instagram’s algorithm punished me.

For weeks I posted to my Instagram stories about the genuinely disturbing amount of anti-trans legislation that’s been sweeping the country. As a concerning result, my engagement dropped by more than 96%, and my account reach dropped by 83%.

What does this mean and why is it important? Put simply, reach is how many people see your post in their News Feed. Engagement is how many people interact with it. Both reach and engagement go down when you’re an out trans and/or non-binary person on Instagram. Whether its posting about issues that affect me or simply putting my pronouns in my bio, the algorithm deems my content as “inappropriate”, preventing me from reaching people who follow me, and from people who don’t.

My account is also at higher risk of being flagged. People can take their transphobia out by reporting my stories and posts, or they can unleash a bunch of spam bots to follow me and interact with my content (which happened), causing my account to be flagged for suspicious activity and further limiting the reach of what I share. There is the possibility that people simply muted my stories and thats why my reach and engagement dropped. But the likelihood that the majority of my followers decided to mute my stories either in a fit of transphobia or bc they want good-vibes-only in their feed is low — not impossible, but very low.

So how do I get my account back to “normal”? The solutions vary (Meta is of no help itself which comes as a shock to no one) but most suggestions from trans and non-binary people who have been through similar experiences include changing your account type, logging off for a week or two, going private for a few months or permanently, and manually removing the bot accounts in a randomized way over a lengthy period of time so as not to violate any of Instagrams unspoken rules of conduct. Effectively, Instagram has turned off my mic until I disappear for a bit so their AI can stop being threatened — or encouraged to be threatened — by my existence and my audacity to talk about it. That’s not a frightening cautionary tale of whats to come, it’s a reality for marginalized people.

I’m well aware that revolutions won’t be made on a social media app — especially one that gave Trump access back to his accounts this year. But only a fool would believe that social media has limited or no impact on how we vote, shop, choose partners, and get most of our news. Social media, like it or not, is a major player in our current politics and mirrors the shameful American tradition of silencing people who dare to say that a boot is on their neck. As such, there should be outrage when our most vulnerable are being silenced on any platform — private or public — especially when their civil rights are being actively stripped away.

I opened Instagram yesterday, on Trans Day of Visibility, to hear what I already knew was inevitable — the Kentucky legislature overrode governor Andy Beshear’s veto of an omnibus anti-transgender bill that LGBTQ+ advocates have called one of the worst in the nation. Rep. Stevenson gave a passionate and powerful rebuke as people were being arrested for chanting slogans like “Trans Lives Matter!” The insult added to injury? The health care bans will take effect in 90 days, in mid-June, just in time for LGBTQ+ Pride Month. I logged off again.

I’ve slowly been removing and blocking bot accounts. I’ll be back on Instagram in about a week but it won’t be the same, my relationship with the platform has been changing and will continue to. What won’t change is my unbridled love for my fellow trans and non-binary people, and for queer people everywhere. Remember, they can turn our mics off but our voices will still be heard — always and forever darling.