Instagram Suspends 'Gays Against Groomers' Amid Scrutiny of Meta’s Moderation Policies

(Editor's note: Hours after Gays Against Groomers was suspended on Instagram, the account was reinstated. Read more here.)

Instagram, on Wednesday, suspended the account of the controversial far-right group Gays Against Groomers following heightened scrutiny over Meta’s content moderation policies. Hours later, though, the social media company seemingly reinstated the account without explanation.

The suspension comes in the wake of a report by Media Matters in September that criticized Meta, Instagram’s parent company, for its alleged failure to curb hateful content proliferated by Gays Against Groomers that violated the platform’s terms.

Gays Against Groomers has portrayed itself as a coalition aiming to protect children; however, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have identified Gays Against Groomers as an anti-LGBTQ+ extremist group, with leaders having known affiliations with extremist groups like the Proud Boys.

Jaimee Michell, the lesbian co-founder of the organization, is a political operative with ties to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The group supports his anti-LGBTQ+ stance — something that caused a rift among the organization’s leadership earlier in the summer, leading to David Leatherwood, a gay Republican political operative, to leave the organization. The group has faced accusations of spreading harmful rhetoric and misinformation regarding the LGBTQ+ community, mainly targeting transgender individuals.

On Wednesday, Gays Against Groomers took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce Instagram’s action and express their discontent. The group asserted that the suspension, affecting their account with 360,000 followers, was an “unjust” reaction to “malicious lies” spread by advocacy groups like GLAAD and Media Matters. They claimed that this move by Instagram was a direct attack on their mission to protect children, terming the suspension as an act of censorship.

Related: Meta Fails to Moderate Content from Anti-Trans Hate Group on Instagram, Watchdog Group Says

In an official statement, Gays Against Groomers expressed “grave concern and disappointment” over what they see as an effort to silence them and called attention to “progressive extremists” urging Meta to ban their accounts.

They further pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision on October 20, which they claim has broadened the scope of content removal by social media platforms at the behest of the Biden administration.

Gays Against Groomers maintains that their content is based on facts and scientific studies and accuses Meta of biased content moderation, challenging the impartiality of the process.

They called the suspension a “homophobic action” that obstructs their mission to protect children.

Shortly after the initial publication of this article, Gays Against Groomers announced that the account had been restored.

“It’s been quite a tumultuous day as we woke up to our account with over 360,000 followers SUSPENDED! We raised hell and appealed, and we were just informed that Instagram has restored it,” Gays Against Groomers wrote on Instagram. “We will never be silenced. We plan on taking legal action against those who have continuously defamed us with malicious lies. Please help support our fight! Visit gaysagainstgroomers.com/donate to contribute,” adding, “be sure to follow our backup accounts @gaysagainstgroomers2.0 and @gaysagainstgroomers3.0.”

Regarding Instagram’s decision to suspend the hate group from its platform (and before the account was reinstated) Media Matters senior communications director Laura Keiter told The Advocate, “Meta has a responsibility to make platforms a safe place for all users. While it has historically put in place bare minimum policies with inconsistent enforcement, we encourage Meta to do what they can to continue to eradicate hate speech and extremism on the platform.”

Related: What Is Gays Against Groomers?

A GLAAD spokesperson echoed that sentiment.

"All social media companies should enforce their own policies,” they said. “All of the platforms have policies which clearly prohibit anti-LGBTQ hate content, and such policies exist for a reason. To protect all users from being targeted by or exposed to content that diminishes their safety or that negatively impacts the usability of the platform.”

The spokesperson highlighted the harmful nature of the anti-LGBTQ ‘groomer’ trope, noting its role in perpetuating dangerous hate speech against the LGBTQ community, particularly based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The inconsistent actions by Meta regarding Gays Against Groomers’ Instagram account underscores the ongoing debate around content moderation, digital free speech, and the responsibility of tech giants like Meta in curbing hate speech and misinformation on their platforms. Advocacy groups continue to push for more stringent content moderation policies to ensure user safety and maintain a hate-free online environment.

The harmful “groomer” trope utilized by Gays Against Groomers and similar groups has created a hostile environment for the LGBTQ+ community, both online and offline, being used to justify hate, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, impacting discussions around LGBTQ+ issues and access to gender-affirming healthcare for trans children.

Despite recognizing it as hate speech, Meta’s inconsistency in enforcing its hate speech policy against the anti-LGBTQ+ “groomer” slur showcases the challenges and gaps in content moderation across major social media platforms.

A 2022 report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Human Rights Campaign indicates a surge in malicious usage of the dangerous and inciting anti-LGBTQ+ groomer trope across social media in 2022, with Meta profiting from ads promoting such rhetoric.

GLAAD’s 2023 Social Media Safety Index & Platform Scorecard revealed failing scores for all major platforms on LGBTQ-specific indicators, emphasizing the widespread issue of unmitigated dangerous hate and disinformation across social media. Advocacy groups continue to push for more stringent content moderation policies to ensure user safety and maintain a hate-free online environment.

The Advocate contacted Meta for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

This story was updated to reflect that the Gays Against Groomers Instagram account was reinstated on Wednesday afternoon.