Turia Pitt, a severe burn survivor, said Instagram closed the page she had created to help victims of the Australia wildfires.
The “Spend With Them” Instagram page dedicated to offering visibility to areas devastated by bushfires in Australia, was blocked by the social platform – according to Turia Pitt, the creator of the campaign.
Mrs. Pitt and her reason to help
Mrs. Turia Pitt, currently 32 years old, suffered a serious accident in 2011 when, during a marathon, the flames of a bushfire caught her. As a result, she suffered serious burns on 65% of her body.
This experience motivated her to want to help those who are now suffering from the wild wave of bushfires in Australia by creating an Instagram campaign encouraging people to spend money in the business of cities devastated by fire.
However, the sudden growth of the page seems to have been a reason for Instagram to limit its activity. This was learned when comedian Joel Creasey asked Mrs. Pitt: “How many people have shown their support so far?”
Mrs. Pitt responded that Instagram blocked some of the account’s functions due to an abnormal growth rate in followers.
Back in action
During the momentary block, the page could still publish images and videos in the “Stories” section, but they could not use normal publications.
“I still can’t publish guys. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon. Hold on: we have some amazing businesses in line to share with you” said Mrs. Pitt, who contacted Instagram to solve the problem.
Luckily, a few hours after the shutdown, the page was back online, and in a short time, it has gained more than 79,000 followers.
Currently, the page continues to grow, recovering all its former followers, and Mrs. Pitt has already returned to work together with the communities to support anyone who has suffered from a bushfire. As part of the campaigns, she has issued several very emotional messages about the devastating fires in New South Wales that have claimed 20 human lives.
Similarly, to connect more with people and raise awareness about the dangers of fire, Mrs. Pitt decided to explain to her followers her story and the reason for the existence of her project, taking the opportunity to say that she has spent some difficult days in which she has relived traumas of her accident in 2011, and she asks citizens not to act recklessly to try to save material objects when faced with fire.
