Social-Media
Facebook and Instagram forbid any messages supporting conversion therapy
Instagram announced on Thursday a new ban on all forms of content, including posts and videos, promoting the widely discredited practice known as conversion therapy, which attempts to forcefully alter the sexual orientation of an individual. The news was first reported by CNN earlier today.
A spokesperson for the parent company Facebook tells The Verge that this recent policy change is the extension of an earlier law specifically prohibiting ads that promote the practice that was put in place earlier this year, and that the policy now includes a ban on any content that directly promotes the practice.
The spokesperson confirmed that the ban applies to both Instagram and the company's main social network, which share hate speech policies.
We do not support attacks on individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity and are reviewing our policy to prohibit the marketing of conversion therapy services, said Tara Hopkins, Instagram's Head of Public Policy for Europe , the Middle East and Africa, in a statement to CNN in response to the conversion therapy material promoted by the UK christian group Core Issues Trust. We removed violating content from @coreissuestrusttv.
We 're still updating our policies and will continue to work with experts and people with personal experience to advise our approach.
Conversion therapy is banned in one way or another in at least 19 US states, with most cases protecting children, but it remains legal at the federal level in the US and is allowed in large parts of Europe and elsewhere in the world. It is often peddled by religious organizations as a pseudo-science with no basis in fact, and studies show that it has a direct link to higher rates of depression, drug use, homelessness and suicide among young adults, many of whom are subject to it without their consent.
Instagram says that the ban is being implemented globally as part of the extension of its global policy on hate speech. Only Germany has a law on books banning the operation of minors, suggesting that Facebook and Instagram's shared content ban on conversion therapy will help to shut down groups in Asia , Europe, the US and other regions seeking to advertise or encourage online operation.
