Queer Photography Magazine ‘Elska’ Continues to Have Posts Removed by Instagram

The tradition of seeing respectable queer images removed from Instagram continues, as the queer photography, culture and travel magazine Elska posted today on Facebook that it has had yet another post removed by the social media platform for violating vague AF “community guidelines.”

Elska, published every two months, bills itself as “part intellectual queer pinup mag and part sexy anthropology journal.” The publication regularly features images and stories from queer men living in a different international location. In the past the magazine has covered cities in Japan, Israel, India, South Africa, Australia and more.

Earlier this year Hornet teased new issues of Elska focusing on the queer communities of London and Los Angeles.

Below is Elska’s Facebook post about having yet another image removed by Instagram:

Should we delete our Instagram?

For like the hundredth time, someone’s reported one of our posts, and despite it absolutely not violating Instagram’s clear “community guidelines”, it’s been deleted and another shadowban of indeterminate length has been instituted. It’s frustrating to say the least.

Here’s the question. Should we just end the frustration and delete our Instagram account completely? Or does that let the prudes, homophobes, and haters win? Or are they winning already by effectively censoring what we post and making us constantly nervous that we’ll get another Insta hand-slap?

And here’s the problem. On some days, over half of all visits to our online shop come via Instagram, though there’s no indication that those are the people who actually buy. More crucially though, does not having an account take away our legitimacy? Perhaps the answer is to only post product shots, rendering our account totally boring but relievingly anodyne.

Leave your two cents, pence, yen, won, pesos, crowns, and kopeks please!

When will the harassment of queer people and publications stop on Facebook and Instagram (which are of course owned by the same parent company)?

Please support Elska, which does amazing work by giving a voice to the world’s queer communities. You can find the magazine on Instagram here.

What do you think of Elska having yet another image removed by Instagram?

All images courtesy of Elska