Meta Sorry For Blocking Instagram LGBTQ Search Terms

User Mag reports:

For months, Meta has been restricting content with LGBTQ-related hashtags from search and discovery under its “sensitive content” policy aimed at restricting “sexually suggestive content.”

Posts with LGBTQ+ hashtags including #lesbian, #bisexual, #gay, #trans, #queer, #nonbinary, #pansexual and dozens of others were hidden for any users who had their sensitive content filter turned on. Teenagers have the sensitive content filter turned on by default.

Meta reversed the restrictions on LGBTQ search terms after User Mag reached out for comment, saying that it was in error. “These search terms and hashtags were mistakenly restricted,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Read the full article. There’s much more.

NEW: Meta’s Instagram blocked teens from searching LGBTQ-related content for months.

@taylorlorenz.bsky.social reports that Meta was categorizing dozens of LGBTQ hashtags, including #Lesbian, #Bisexual, and #Trans, as “sensitive content.”

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— GLAAD (@glaad.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM