ATLANTA — An Atlanta photographer is fighting for her business after she says her Instagram account was abruptly shut down, and she believes it was a mistake.
For Isis Mayfield, her lens captures powerful stories, but for now, her story can no longer be seen on Instagram after her account was banned this weekend.
“My username and my profile name have my first name in them—just Isis in general," explained Mayfield.
Her name is her brand, but she believes that very name is what led Meta to ban her Instagram business account.
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“I tapped on Instagram, and the first thing that popped up said my account has been suspended under the community standards for dangerous people and organizations,” added Mayfield.
Meta, which is the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, states in its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals Policy that no “organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence” will be allowed to have a presence on their platform.
The policy specifically cites ISIS under the “glorification” section of “various dangerous organizations and individuals,” stating that any “glorification, support, and representation” of those types of organizations will be removed.
“I’m sure the platform probably recognized me as being affiliated with something violent,” said Mayfield.
While the small business owner believes it must be a mistake because of her name’s connection to the terrorist organization ISIS, she says she’s built a following on Instagram and gets the majority of her work through the platform.
“This is very much hurting business right now. I get inquiries every day, and the forms always tell me they found me through Instagram. So, to know that I’ve completely disappeared does not help much,” said Mayfield.
While Mayfield’s story remains in the dark on Instagram, she’s still trying to keep the lights on at home.
“They said they could possibly get it reinstated, but they never told me how long it would take. Of course, time is of the essence, especially for a small business owner,” added Mayfield.
Meta has been in the spotlight after announcing earlier this year an overhaul of its content policies, ending their third party fact-checking program, lifting restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discourse and focusing on enforcement of illegal and high-severity violations.
- A petition on Change.org to hold Meta accountable for “wrongfully disabling accounts” has garnered 36,000 signatures. The petition asks the company to fix the AI and provide real support.
Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter reached out to the company regarding Isis’s account, and as of late Saturday, she was still waiting to hear back.
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