Instagram Bans Content Promoting Conversion Therapy
Including testimonials in praise of the damaging practice.
Instagram has banned all content that promotes or supports conversion therapy for the LGBTQ+ community. The decision was made amidst increasing scrutiny of the practice, which is prohibited in several U.S. states for increasing risk of depression and suicide.
The social media app will stop recommending conversion therapy-related content to users. By expanding its policies on hate speech to include promotion of conversion therapy, users will be barred from posting testimonials in favor of the practice, except for those in a legislative context. According to a report by CNN, Instagram banned advertisements for conversion therapy earlier this year.
“We don’t allow attacks against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity and are updating our policies to ban the promotion of conversion therapy services,” Tara Hopkins, Instagram’s public policy director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said. Hopkins added that offending content from @coreissuestrusttv, the profile for a Christian organization “challenging gender confusion,” has been removed.
In related news, celebrities including Dua Lipa and Munroe Bergdorf have signed a letter calling on the UK to ban conversion therapy.
