Influencer warns about eating disorders and is punished by Instagram

A quick look at social media and it doesn’t take long for terms and expressions such as Ozempic, Baby tee, “skinny, skinny, skinny” to emerge in a tone of exaltation. Could this be the harbinger of the end of the body positive movement, which encourages and celebrates bodies different from the established aesthetic standard?

As far as Luiza Allan, from the Não Como Só Alface profile, is far from weakening. Going against the ubiquitous “egg diets”, miraculous workouts and magic markers, the influencer created the page in 2016. It features content about healthy eating, as well as comedy videos. But, by making a post denouncing the culture of thinness on social media, Instagram misunderstood the content and ended up punishing her profile.

Luiza’s video recounted her personal experience with eating disorders and warned about the dangers related to the return of thinness culture. She also published a photo in her stories warning about the sensitive topic and posted a photo of herself, in a bikini, from the time when she suffered from anorexia and had an excessively thin body. “Trigger warning for my last reels. I talk about anorexia. If it’s a sensitive topic for you, don’t watch,” the caption read.

The content posted was interpreted by the platform in a way contrary to what it proposed. In October, the influencer received notifications that said her story did not follow “community guidelines on suicide, self-harm and eating disorders” and that it “may lead people to harm themselves.”

The warning gave some examples of content that would not be allowed, such as posts that mock eating disorders, instructions on weight loss and images that emphasize extreme thinness, “unless they are about recovery.” Your post would fall into the aforementioned exception.

After notifications, the story was removed. Then, their content was prohibited from being recommended to new followers and monetized. The profile was prevented from collaborating with other profiles and from responding to messages sent by followers in the private chat. The measures were imposed by Instagram within a period that runs until February 10, 2025.

To the F5Luiza lamented the losses she has been accumulating after being punished for an Instagram error: “I’m going to have to work for free to compensate for something that wasn’t my mistake, it was the platform’s mistake.” “When content is restricted, it means I no longer gain followers, which is extremely important for my work,” he said.

To try to reverse the situation, the influencer contacted the social network’s technical support, submitting a request to clarify that the content did not violate the platform’s policies, but aimed exclusively to promote awareness. Luiza has not received any response from the company nor has her restrictions been removed at this time.

The next step was to file a lawsuit. The influencer’s legal team requested preliminary precautionary relief, aimed at obtaining the immediate removal of the sanctions applied, under penalty of a daily fine in case of non-compliance. No restrictions have been removed so far and Luiza continues to have resources blocked.

Wanted by F5 regarding the criteria, methodologies and restriction policies, Instagram declined to comment.

Luiza lamented the social network’s stance: “What is the criteria? Why are some people affected and others not? Why are people who are talking about awareness punished and restricted and people who are really encouraging it are there, with sponsored content?” . “There are a lot of people making content about extreme thinness, restrictive diets, counting calories, and none of it is overturned,” she said.

She also spoke about the damage that content related to thinness can cause to the public: “People who are references for young girls and who, with each passing day, become thinner, even if they don’t talk about their methods, encourage the search for alternatives. [método] The easiest is the most harmful.”