On January 31, 2025, the Black Scholars’ Resource Center's Instagram account was temporarily disabled. Upon reviewing the notification, we were informed, “Your account may be associated with another account that has gone against our rules.” Following this, we did everything in our power to regain access to the account. However, on February 8, 2025, we received a notification stating that the account had been permanently disabled.
On January 7, 2025, Meta announced that they would be discontinuing their third-party fact-checking services. This change allows rhetoric on Meta platforms to be validated not by experts but by the community on the platform. Due to this new policy, users are now more susceptible to losing their accounts based on personal opinions toward a post. This policy does not work in our favor, given the identity we hold and uplift.
We want to highlight that our account was taken down right before the start of Black History Month—a time when our account is in constant use. Our account was removed without any reasoning or justification whatsoever. When we requested an explanation, we were met with silence and no response. This action was not conducive to the progress of the collective Black community here on the campus of UC Merced.
Link to article about community notes – LINK
