Between 1st - 3rd September 2017, many of us received a verification code on Instagram, designed after a hacking that previously took place. After entering this verification code many users were left with a ban on their account that restricts them from publicly appearing in hashtags.

Lets not all be shy about the word 'shadowban'. A shadowban is the act of blocking a user from an online community in such a way that they don't realise that they've been banned. We all know that Instagram has a similar system in place to limit the reach of users who abuse and spam the hashtag feature. However, this is not the case. Thousands of innocent users have been affected by this 'shadowban' ever since entering that verification code. Our public pages have basically become private. Our content that is so dear to our hearts is going unseen.

We have reached out to Instagram on countless occasions. We have taken the formal and required approach of reporting our issue through the app, however we have been ignored. We have reached out through Facebook, Twitter and every possible outreach, and we have been ignored! It is not acceptable to ignore your customers. Many of us have spent years building up a large following and/or built our business up from the ground using Instagram as our main marketing platform. This 'glitch' is extremely detrimental to all that we have built.

Hashtags are the most important tool in building your following and reaching a new audience. Without being able to use hashtags we are losing followers, our growth has come to a halt and our overall engagement has decreased...and with the algorithm what do you need for even your own followers to see your posts? ENGAGEMENT! So I hope you see the effect that this glitch has on our accounts as a whole. Many of us have lost business, lost sales, lost brand deals, many of us have even stopped posting at all because we feel that our content that we work so hard on is being wasted when you have crippled our reach. It is heartbreaking to see our hard work go unnoticed.

From our understanding, normal 'shadow banning' is lifted within a few days. This has not been the case for us. This is not a typical shadow banning for users abusing the terms and conditions, this is a glitch that is affecting those who do not deserve it. We have checked if we are using banned hashtags, we have tried not posting or using Instagram for long periods of time, we have tried all that we can but this is in Instagram's hands. We need you, Instagram, to help us innocent users get our content registering in hashtags.

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Going forward, it would be a good idea if Instagram could start presenting users with warnings, before directly banning them. This gives users an understanding on where they are going wrong! Also in this case, it would have given innocent users the chance to dispute.