[FACT OR FAKE #97] Has Instagram Banned The Phrase "I'm A Born-Again Follower Of Jesus"?
There was an uproar of sort in February when Instagram users discovered that Instagram had blocked them from posting the phrase "I am a born-again follower of Jesus." SAYS FACT OR FAKE columnist takes a look at what really happened there.
By Sadho Ram — 08 Mar 2015, 03:58 PM
In February 2015, an uproar erupted on social media claiming that Instagram had "banned Jesus," as evidenced by many users' discovering that posting the phrase "I am a born-again follower of Jesus Christ" to the comments attached to photographs resulted in the display of a community guidelines violation warning. e.g.:
Its true. Wow instagram.Got this restriction for commenting "I am a born again follower of Jesus Christ" on instagram pic.twitter.com/ntgmSSBbhF
— Brittney Moses (@Brittney_Moses) February 27, 2015
“@Ang3lica_p: Instagram won't let you comment "I am a born again follower of Jesus Christ." Im in awe.. pic.twitter.com/IbN6lRUyHW”????
— Nick Montesano (@nickmontesano15) February 28, 2015
The ban is real, but has nothing to do with religion!
Although it is correct that Instagram blocks users from adding the phrase "I am a born again follower of Jesus" to the comments of a post, this phenomenon has nothing to do with Jesus or religion.
snopes.comSo why can't users then post the phrase?
The reason this comment violates Instagram's community guidelines is because it includes letters spelling out the term "gain follower." Instagram users also can't comment that they are "born again followers of grilled cheese" or "born again followers of the Chicago Bulls."
Instagram has marked the phrase "gain follower," as well as variations of the term, as a spam technique intended to boost users' popularity. While this prevents people on Instagram from overtly begging for more followers, it has also inadvertently stopped a few people from proclaiming that they are "born again followers of Jesus."
Instagram could refine this ban in the future in order to prevent the phrase "born again" from being inadvertently classified as spam. In the meantime, there are a few workarounds:
Since the word "Jesus" is not banned on Instagram, users can write something similar to "I am born again. I love Jesus" or replace the "o"s in "I am a born again follower of Jesus" with "0"s:
Or simply take out the 'gain,' and you’re all good:
