More than a dozen of young Instagram users who use the social media platform to make cash say that their accounts have recently been removed.
A Facebook representative said the
accounts were disabled following multiple violations of platform
policies, as well as tried abuse
of internal processes.
Declan Mortimer, 17, who claims
his Instagram account generated up to $200,000 a year through advertising to
his over11 million
followers, said his account
was terminated last Christmas. He believes his account was closed as a part of a vast meme page
purge. An analogous purge happened Friday morning, once Instagram
terminated over 30 accounts with similar
meme-like content citing policy violations. (A meme is an amusing
or interesting item, like a captioned image or video that’s spread virally online, particularly through social
media).
Several meme page owners, who asked to stay anonymous, told FOX 5 that the termination of their
Instagram is “heartbreaking” and a financial blow.
They said they created money by charging firms who wanted to succeed in their base of followers thousands of dollars for a single post. One 18-year-old
named Caige, whose account “@autist” was deactivated Thursday, said he had already made over $30,000
this year. He said he
was using the cash he made with Instagram for college.
Mortimer told FOX 5 he believes meme pages
are being deleted because they
were reaching out to users who additionally violate
Instagram policy by selling verification
services, retrieving disabled user names and reinstating prohibited accounts through a private program that’s solely supposed to be available for members of the
media.
A Facebook representative confirmed that Instagram shuts down accounts
that violate the company’s terms of use. Violations that could end in termination include making an attempt to
buy, sell or transfer any aspect of an account (including
the username) or use login credentials of other users. Sharing sensitive personal info (names, bank account details, addresses, etc.)
and transferring funds or sending cash through Instagram or
Facebook accounts are also violations,
the representative said.