Max/Kendal Mince

NAME: Max/Kendal Mince
PLATFORM & USERNAME: Instagram @maxybevs
CENSORSHIP: Account ban

What reason was given for your ban?

No reason was given for my Insta account being removed twice.

It simply disappeared from the internet.

No notification, no option to appeal and no way to contact anyone.

Why do you think your post(s) was censored?

My account contained pictures of me experimenting with drag and drag makeup. It was a small open account I’d shared with friends. Perhaps I hadn’t properly linked an email the first time, but I didn’t want the account automatically shared with friends and family who I hadn’t shared it with yet. The second time – no idea, perhaps automatically flagged after the first removal?

Were you able to appeal and what was the response?

I would’ve done. But I couldn’t find out how. The account simply disappeared and there was nothing to press, nobody to contact. I emailed a random address I found, but nothing.

What effect has your experience of censorship had on you?

After it was removed a second time, I gave up and stopped posting. I still continued my drag journey, going out with friends after the pandemic. It was always an IRL creation begun online. But I lost a potential creative outlet and community.

What’s one thing you want people to know about this topic?

Queer creators need to be understood differently by social media companies. Queer people might behave in a way to control their experience and experiment safely, that shouldn’t be flagged as suspicious.