MEDIA ADVISORY

March 23, 2022

Meta disables Facebook Users Union Instagram Account

For more information contact :

Brittany Williams, Facebook Users Union Campaign Lead Email: brittany@facebookusers.org Tel: (305) 992-8168 or

Tracy Rosenberg, Executive Director, Media Alliance Email: tracy@media-alliance.org Tel: (510) 684-6853

MENLO PARK  —  Meta, the Facebook platform’s parent company, has officially disabled the Instagram account of the Facebook Users Union (@fbusersunion).

The Facebook Users Union is an advocacy organization committed to developing the collective voice of the platform’s nearly 3 billion users. Last Thursday, Facebook disabled FUU’s account and then  labeled it as “a mistake” and on March 22nd, Facebook fully deleted FUU’s account.

This ban comes just as Meta, Facebook’s parent company, prepares for their annual shareholder meeting that will address leadership changes with the board exit of Trump donor Peter Thiel,  and the incoming leadership of Nick Clegg, former Deputy Prime Minister of the U.K.  Facebook faces a slew of reputational risks and public concern over Facebook censorship, profit from harm to marginalized communities and democratic government and accusations of  election meddling. Facebook has recently admitted to being used to instigate violence against Rohingya muslims. Facebook has also faced allegations of mass censoring climate activists while making money from fossil-fuel adshosting Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, and abusing the labor rights of Kenyan content moderators seeking to unionize and raise their wages.

Media Alliance Executive Director Tracy Rosenberg (MA is one of the FBUU anchor groups) commented:

This is typical Meta. Instead of focusing on protecting the vulnerable being harmed by their platform, they are focused on protecting themselves from criticism from their own users.

FUU demands the immediate reinstatement of our Instagram account and encourages advocates, allies, and community members to raise awareness of Facebook censorship and participate in a week of action during the upcoming Facebook shareholder meetings.

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