Instagram has shut down a number of popular meme accounts on its platform without warning – some of which have millions of followers.
Owners of some very popular meme-posting accounts got a nasty surprise last week, as Instagram went on a mission to crack down on them, removing them permanently with no chance of reinstatement. When asked about the recent so-called “meme purge,” a Facebook spokesperson said that the accounts in question were disabled after violating platform policies on several occasions.
Specifically, the policies included “selling and purchasing of usernames, as well as alleged attempts to fraudulently obtain others’ usernames.” As a result, many highly-followed (and in many cases very lucrative) accounts were taken down last week without notice or explanation.
While it’s not against Instagram’s policies to post memes – although the practice is most likely probably frowned upon, and perhaps even penalised – the stated violations are sufficient to get an account permanently removed.
@instagram you just deleted all of my accounts for absolutely no reason, no warning, and no context behind this. (30 million+ followers worth of accounts deleted in 24 hours) #fuckinstagram #reactivateyerdank #reactivateautist pic.twitter.com/nJY6CvkQkW
— yerdank (@umCaige) July 26, 2019
As expected, account owners are furious, as the affected accounts (around 30 of them) had amassed a combined 33 million followers and were bringing in a pretty decent income from advertising and sponsorships.
In one case, 17-year-old Declan Mortimer said he had been making up to $200,000 per year with his account. Owner of the account @autist, an 18-year-old user named “Caige,” said his account had over 500,000 followers before it was taken down last week and had brought in over $30,000 in 2019 alone. Other high-profile accounts that were removed include @sup.david, @nutted, @wokiest, @thespedhed, and @meme_humus.
HUGE meme page purge last night on insta. Accounts with millions of followers (one had more than 13M alone) got deleted. pic.twitter.com/Beugxh6bm4
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 26, 2019
Instagram recently updated its account removal policies and is now able to disable accounts with a maximum number of violations within a specific time window. The policy was changed to catch and disable accounts that have found ways to game its policy violation system; it’s possible that the “meme purge” is part of this change.
You might also like
More from Instagram
Instagram Introduces Search Ads Via Its Marketing API
Instagram Search Ads are now available to all advertisers via the Instagram marketing API. Just two months after it began to …
Instagram’s New Twitter Competitor Revealed
Instagram's rumored text-based Twitter competitor still does not have a name, but now we know what it might look like. The …
Instagram Now Lets Everyone Use GIFs In Comments
Instagram is now letting every user comment on posts and Reels with GIFs. I think we can all agree that if …
You Can Now Add Songs To Your Instagram Photo Carousels
Instagram says it is testing a new feature that lets users add songs to the photo carousels they share on …
Instagram Now Lets You Add Up To 5 ‘Links In Bio’
Instagram is rolling out a new feature for adding up to 5 'links in bio' - a feature doomed to …
Instagram Collaborative Collections Are The New Way To Save And Share Content With Your Friends
Instagram is introducing a new 'Save posts with friends' that lets you create a collaborative collection for you and your …
Meta Verified Service Goes Live In The US
Want to get the coveted blue verification checkmark on Facebook and Instagram? If you're in the US, now you can. …
Instagram Is Testing A ‘Top 3’ Sticker To Boost Engagement
According to reports, Instagram is testing a new Top 3 sticker for Stories, allowing users to highlight favorite accounts, places, …
Facebook And Instagram Start Selling Blue Checks With Meta Verified
Meta Verified will give you a blue check badge on both Facebook and Instagram, along with other benefits for $12 …
