Shooting has not been outlawed as a sport, nor has it been excluded from the Olympics, but several members of US Olympic and Paralympic shooting teams are getting censored on Instagram.
The reason is photos showing them and their firearms. One is Paralympian McKenna Geer, whose account has been “restricted” – so far, according to reports, without the possibility of appeal. The message notifying this user of Instagram’s censorship contains an appeal button – but “it doesn’t work.”
“I have always feared the day the media would censor my sport and speech just because I use firearms. That day has finally come,” Greer said in a post, along with screenshots of Instagram’s notifications.
In Greer’s case, three posts were flagged and are not being recommended to non-followers. In addition, the notice said, her account and content have been banished from Instagram’s Explore, Search, Suggested Users, Reels, and Feed Recommendations sections.
The athlete was given the option to edit or remove the flagged posts, or “edit her profile” in order to remedy the situation.
All this is happening just days before the start of the Paris Games, which will be followed by the Paralympics, and Greer wrote that athletes such as herself rely on social media to promote the sport, but also firearm safety.
In addition, it is also a tool to build personal brands and secure sponsorships – and, given that the sport itself is far from providing competitors with a lucrative income, with actions like these, Instagram is undermining that aspect as well.
“(I) received messages from the last 24 hours from athletes, Paralympic medalists, and up and coming shooters that can’t grow their following because of this,” Greer told Just the News.
“Our social media presence can often be the avenue that pays for us to continue competing,” Greer, who won a medal in 2016 in Rio and participated in the Tokyo Paralympics, added.
Greer got the USA Shooting PR involved, who got in touch with Meta. The giant responded with an email stating that they may allow a certain type of content, but choose not to get it recommended, and explained this as the need to “foster a safe community.”
However, the USA Shooting media manager was unable to understand how that policy is violated by images showing Olympic and Paralympic athletes with their firearms. “Our athletes have never made any posts that insinuate any sort of violence, unsafe use of firearms, or an unsafe community,” the manager wrote.
Meta’s response was that “posts that include regulated goods are not allowed on our platforms under any circumstances, even if they are non-threatening in nature. There may be some instances after appealing, where the decisions are overturned.”
And they “encouraged” taking the appeals route, at the same time admitting they are aware Greer is unable to appeal – but did not know why, and were investigating.
