{"link":"https://hornet.com/stories/instagram-aids-memorial/","id":164715,"date":"2017-09-06T14:20:10","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T18:20:10","modified":"2017-09-06T14:20:10","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T18:20:10","slug":"instagram-aids-memorial","title":"Instagram Has Been Taking Down Posts Remembering Those Lost in the AIDS Epidemic","excerpt":"

A Scottish activist known only as Stuart painstakingly curates an AIDS Memorial on Instagram — but they’ve deleted posts and locked him out of his account

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One of the many gems on Instagram is @the_aids_memorial. The account has posted a gallery featuring over 2,700 memories of those lost in the AIDS crisis.

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A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)
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Unfortunately, however, @the_aids_memorial hasn’t had any new posts for the past four days. This isn’t a scheduled break. Instead, Stuart, the mononymic curator, is locked out of his account.

This isn’t the first issue he has had with the account. Stuart says Instagram first deleted hundreds of posts. He initially discovered their deletion when a number of submitters e-mailed him, upset that he’d taken down their images. Stuart hadn’t taken them down, however. When he and his followers complained to Instagram, the posts were re-instated.

Sadly, that wasn’t the end of it. Though Instagram restored the posts, a few days later, they were pulled once again. After another wave of complaints, the posts were again restored — but now Stuart’s locked out of the account.

Though he can’t access his main account, Stuart set up a secondary account to call attention to his treatment by Instagram. But all isn’t well there, either — while writing this article, his first post explaining the situation was deleted. Luckily, there are still others that are (as of right now) still live:

Instagram has responded — but their responses have been less than helpful. In one e-mail Stuart shared, Instagram couldn’t help because they say he didn’t include the signup e-mail in his help request — though Stuart says he did.

In another e-mail, they said Stuart turned off two-factor authentication, an extra layer of security that prevents unauthorized users from accessing the account. This may be an indication Stuart is one of the victims of the recent mass-hacking of Instagram accounts.

However, Stuart’s not so sure, commenting, “If someone has disconnected my telephone number and e-mail address as part of a hack, I wouldn’t expect a response like this from Instagram.”

Stuart encourages all of his followers to keep following the original account and to continue complaining to Instagram until they restore his access. At least — for the time being — we still have access to the many great memorials that have already been posted.

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A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)
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We can’t forget our history.

UPDATE 9/6/17: Stuart has access again. He just posted this:

Photo via @the_aids_memorial

\n","content_blocks":[{"tag":"p","html":"One of the many gems on Instagram is @the_aids_memorial. The account has posted a gallery featuring over 2,700 memories of those lost in the AIDS crisis."},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_1] "},{"tag":"blockquote","class":"instagram-media sbi-embed","data-instgrm-captioned":"","data-instgrm-permalink":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BYatlpylzhD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading","data-instgrm-version":"13","style":" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);","html":"\n

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

\n"},{"tag":"p","html":""},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_2] "},{"tag":"p","html":"Unfortunately, however, @the_aids_memorial hasn’t had any new posts for the past four days. This isn’t a scheduled break. Instead, Stuart, the mononymic curator, is locked out of his account."},{"tag":"p","html":"This isn’t the first issue he has had with the account. Stuart says Instagram first deleted hundreds of posts. He initially discovered their deletion when a number of submitters e-mailed him, upset that he’d taken down their images. Stuart hadn’t taken them down, however. When he and his followers complained to Instagram, the posts were re-instated."},{"tag":"p","html":"Sadly, that wasn’t the end of it. Though Instagram restored the posts, a few days later, they were pulled once again. After another wave of complaints, the posts were again restored ? but now Stuart’s locked out of the account."},{"tag":"p","html":"Though he can’t access his main account, Stuart set up a secondary account to call attention to his treatment by Instagram. But all isn’t well there, either ? while writing this article, his first post explaining the situation was deleted. Luckily, there are still others that are (as of right now) still live:"},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_1] "},{"tag":"p","html":"Instagram has responded ? but their responses have been less than helpful. In one e-mail Stuart shared, Instagram couldn’t help because they say he didn’t include the signup e-mail in his help request ? though Stuart says he did."},{"tag":"p","html":"In another e-mail, they said Stuart turned off two-factor authentication, an extra layer of security that prevents unauthorized users from accessing the account. This may be an indication Stuart is one of the victims of the recent mass-hacking of Instagram accounts."},{"tag":"p","html":"However, Stuart’s not so sure, commenting, “If someone has disconnected my telephone number and e-mail address as part of a hack, I wouldn’t expect a response like this from Instagram.”"},{"tag":"p","html":"Stuart encourages all of his followers to keep following the original account and to continue complaining to Instagram until they restore his access. At least ? for the time being ? we still have access to the many great memorials that have already been posted."},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_2] "},{"tag":"blockquote","class":"instagram-media sbi-embed","data-instgrm-captioned":"","data-instgrm-permalink":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BYhcN2GFZ4L/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading","data-instgrm-version":"13","style":" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);","html":"\n

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

\n"},{"tag":"p","html":""},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_2] "},{"tag":"blockquote","class":"instagram-media sbi-embed","data-instgrm-captioned":"","data-instgrm-permalink":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BYWKCNRFi1J/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading","data-instgrm-version":"13","style":" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);","html":"\n

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

\n"},{"tag":"p","html":""},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_1] "},{"tag":"blockquote","class":"instagram-media sbi-embed","data-instgrm-captioned":"","data-instgrm-permalink":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BYStGuqFJUL/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading","data-instgrm-version":"13","style":" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);","html":"\n

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

\n"},{"tag":"p","html":""},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_2] "},{"tag":"blockquote","class":"instagram-media sbi-embed","data-instgrm-captioned":"","data-instgrm-permalink":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BYDnVoflOhX/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading","data-instgrm-version":"13","style":" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);","html":"\n

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

\n"},{"tag":"p","html":""},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_1] "},{"tag":"p","html":"We can’t forget our history."},{"tag":"p","html":"UPDATE 9/6/17: Stuart has access again. He just posted this:"},{"tag":"p","html":" "},{"tag":"p","html":"Photo via @the_aids_memorial"},{"tag":"comment","html":" [inline_ad_2] "}],"main_category_title":"History","main_category_slug":"gay-history","categories":[{"name":"History","slug":"gay-history"}],"tags":[{"name":"Instagram","slug":"instagram"}],"caption":"","hornet_story_id":"9728","language":"en","meta":[{"property":"og:title","content":"Instagram Has Been Taking Down Posts Remembering Those Lost in the AIDS Epidemic"},{"name":"twitter:title","content":"Instagram Has Been Taking Down Posts Remembering Those Lost in the AIDS Epidemic"},{"property":"og:description","content":"A Scottish activist known only as Stuart painstakingly curates an AIDS Memorial on Instagram — but they’ve deleted posts and locked him out of his account\n"},{"name":"description","content":"A Scottish activist known only as Stuart painstakingly curates an AIDS Memorial on Instagram — but they’ve deleted posts and locked him out of his account\n"},{"name":"twitter:description","content":"A Scottish activist known only as Stuart painstakingly curates an AIDS Memorial on Instagram — but they’ve deleted posts and locked him out of his account\n"},{"property":"article:author","content":"Matt Keeley"},{"name":"twitter:image","content":"https://d3u63wyfuci0ch.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/06135555/instagram-aids-memorial.jpg"},{"property":"og:image","content":"https://d3u63wyfuci0ch.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/06135555/instagram-aids-memorial.jpg"},{"property":"og:image:width","content":998},{"property":"og:image:height","content":500},{"property":"article:section","content":"History"},{"property":"article:tag","content":"Instagram"},{"property":"og:locale","content":"en_US"},{"property":"og:type","content":"article"},{"property":"og:url","content":"https://hornet.com/stories/instagram-aids-memorial/"},{"property":"og:site_name","content":"Hornet"},{"property":"article:publisher","content":"https://www.facebook.com/hornetapp"},{"property":"article:published_time","content":"2017-09-06T14:20:10"},{"property":"DC.date.issued","content":"2017-09-06T14:20:10"},{"name":"twitter:card","content":"summary_large_image"},{"name":"twitter:site","content":"@hornet"},{"name":"twitter:creator","content":"@stephanhorbelt"}],"available_languages":[],"parent_story_id":0,"nsfw":0,"impact":0,"similar_stories":[{"slug":"evangelical-christian-trip-virginity","language":"en","title":"This 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Instagram Has Been Taking Down Posts Remembering Those Lost in the AIDS Epidemic

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