50 Cent is calling out Instagram following the app flagging his post about a Black Lives Matter protest.
On Jan. 9, the New York rapper took a screenshot of his old post, revealing that it now seems to be censored by Instagram. In the caption, he wrote, “so the IG God’s don’t like my BLM post. 🤷🏽♂️i don’t know why this was against any rules.”
The flagged photo was uploaded on Wednesday, Jan. 6 — the same day an angry mob of Trump supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol — and shows troops standing by a set of stairs leading to a building. The headline to the photo reads, “For the record this was the US Capitol during the BLM Protestors.” The “Power” star uploaded the photo in an attempt to reveal how BLM protesters were treated by police force this summer in comparison to how pro-Trump rioters were handled last week.
“🤐i don’t have to say anything else,” he wrote generating over 705,000 likes on the photo.
People began explaining to the 45-year-old why the post was being flagged in the comments of the photo.
One person said, “This is what happens when people promote censorship. Censorship for anyone sets up censorship for everyone.”
Another person added, “If they can censor the president the can censor anyone say good by to free speech.”
The commenters are referring to Twitter’s announcement on Friday, Jan. 8 that President Donald Trump was permanently banned from using the app.
On Twitter, the company said, “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
50 cent’s original post says that it is “missing context and could mislead people.” Apparently, the photo used in his post does not accurately depict where the troops were stationed, thus causing viewers of the photo to potentially be misled. According to a USA today fact-checking article, these District of Columbia National Guard troops in the picture were not standing at the Capitol but were actually stationed at the Lincoln Memorial.
Other apps that have banned the nation’s 45th president are Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok. Social network service Parler, an app that is popular with conservatives, has been banned from Apple, Google and Amazon, according to CNN. Created in 2018, the app is promoted as an “unbiased” place where people can “speak freely and express yourself openly without fear of being ‘deplatformed’ for your views.”
