Instagram bans the hashtag #EDM
In a bit of unfortunate news for EDM fans, following Instagram‘s recent high-profile banning (then quiet unbanning) of #curvy, reports have been coming in all over the web about its newest hashtag ban: #EDM
As seemingly impossible as it is to imagine Instagram banning such a popular hashtag (coincidentally, #popular is also banned), their reasoning behind it seems sound. Instagram claims their decisions to ban certain hashtags are based on what users flag as inappropriate and are irrelevant of the actual meaning of the tag. It is only once a tag reaches a certain threshold for offending content that the tag is banned.
Consider for a moment the social wild, wild West that is Instagram. Often, power-users have very little qualms about putting up what some would consider to be questionable content. “Do It For The Gram/Vine” and all that. As a result, Instagram has (possibly autonomous) systems in place to monitor content that is in violation of their Community Guidelines. Hilariously enough, this follows a recent April ban on the eggplant emoji, as a spokesman for Instagram stated it was “consistently associated” with content deemed in violation of their community standards, although the banana and peach tags are still being allowed for the moment.
If you’ve ever attended an EDM festival or event, you probably already have a good idea of why Instagram felt this ban was necessary. The EDM community is widely known in the media for its association with drug use and fast-and-loose ideas of what constitutes clothing. Referring back to our aforementioned less-inhibited Instagram users, I can only guess at the amount of potentially questionable content that is tagged with #EDM on a r̶e̶g̶u̶l̶a̶r̶ hourly basis.
The last hashtag ban lasted barely a week, so it’s hard to say how long this one will. However EDM fans may feel to the contrary, it’s difficult to argue the validity of the ban, as a large majority of Instagram users are young and getting younger every day as it rapidly becomes a staple of communication for the youth.
All that said, users circumvented the previous ban with tags of #curvee and other imaginative substitutes so it’s assumed this ruling will see the same creativity in evading the ban, but what word is next?