Poppy Scarlett

NAME: Poppy Scarlett
PLATFORM & USERNAME: Instagram – @poppyscarlet_ TikTok @selfandmore
CENSORSHIP: Content, account & shadow ban

What reason was given for your ban?

Breach of community guidelines / ‘sexual solicitation’.

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

Corporate entities are scared of female sexuality and the innate power that it holds.

My entire TikTok account was deleted several times when speaking about female pleasure or featuring vibrators in the videos.

Instagram content was removed for violating community guidelines when simply existing in my body in lingerie (no more risqué than celebrity accounts or lingerie brand accounts).

I also own a sex toy company and on that account, we’ve had posts removed when we have re-posted lingerie pictures of fat and black humans in particular.

Were you able to appeal and what was the response?

TikTok Accounts remained deleted. Had to start again from scratch. I have had posts/stories deleted and then restored and others remain deleted.

What effect has your experience of censorship had on you?

A fear to post authentically.  A feeling that I must censor myself or risk deletion. I use misspellings of words like ‘seggs’ to try and avoid being flagged.

My reach and engagement are significantly down on my personal account due to shadowbanning. I feel unable to lean into my work as a sex educator on social media platforms and find myself having to water down content in order to avoid deletion.

It’s disheartening and makes me feel like my existence is perceived as a bad thing by these platforms. I am also a sex worker and constantly see people in my community losing their accounts and their livelihood. “

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

We are being silenced. Sexuality is powerful and beautiful and most importantly, uniquely yours. It’s not something to be squashed to fit in a single consumable box and sold only on someone else’s terms.