Meta is allegedly deleting LGBTQ and plus-sized business Instagram accounts
LGBTQ and plus-sized businesses claim that Meta is deleting their accounts. Meta responds.
According to the Los Angeles-based lingerie brand Cantiq's owner, Chelsea Hughes, Instagram was the brand's primary source of traffic and revenue. However, on October 3, Meta banned Cantiq's Instagram account, causing significant distress for Hughes and public scrutiny. The account was eventually restored on October 9, but not before Hughes faced personal and professional challenges.
Hughes believes that the ban was due to discriminatory AI, as Meta announced plans to enforce its content guidelines with advanced AI models. The ban on Cantiq is part of a pattern of LGBTQ and plus-sized-focused businesses facing account deletions on Instagram. In the last few months, numerous gay bars and nightclubs in Los Angeles and Austin, as well as Thick Enterprises, also had their business accounts removed.
Chantal, co-owner and experiential director of Thick Enterprises, believes it is a targeted puritanical culling of fat and queer spaces, which is both dangerous and homophobic. Meta denies the accusations of shadowbanning and maintains that the bans are based on violating its policies. However, nonprofit Repro Uncensored has recorded approximately 905 cases of digital censorship globally, including 135 in the U.S., between March and October 2026.
GLAAD spokespersons have criticized Meta for not committing to solving the systemic problem and restoring accounts only after public outcry.
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