Orlando LGBTQIA+ Clubs Say Instagram Disabled Accounts Amid Claims

ORLANDO, Fla. – Two Orlando LGBTQIA+ nightclub owners say Instagram shut down their business accounts after labeling them as involving “human exploitation,” disrupting a major channel for promoting events and connecting with customers.

Brandon Llewellyn, co-owner of Savoy, said Meta, Instagram’s parent company, contacted the nightclub two days after Orlando Pride.

The notification informed Savoy that two of its Instagram accounts had been disabled.

“They say it’s a human exploitation, basically accusing us of human trafficking, which obviously is not happening here,” Llewellyn said.

Llewellyn said Savoy has not been told which post led to the suspension. Mike Vacirca, co-owner of the LGBTQIA+ nightclub Anthem, said his business received a similar warning from Instagram.

“We got a notification from Instagram that said your account has been suspended and you could appeal,” Vacirca said. “We appealed immediately, and then three days later we got a permanent ban for our account.”

Both owners said Instagram cited human exploitation when flagging their accounts. They also questioned whether a person reviewed their appeals before the bans were upheld.

“So I understand that they’re operating at scale, but if it’s a severe enough consequence and it’s a severe enough reason, there should be humans doing some kind of review in this process,” Vacirca said.

Llewellyn said Savoy has likewise been unable to connect with a representative at Meta.

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“Now we’re going over a week now, and we still haven’t had an actual conversation with a human being from Meta trying to resolve the issue,” he said.

During its reporting, News 6 found that other LGBTQIA+ nightclubs, including venues in Los Angeles and Texas, had also reported suspended or disabled Instagram accounts.

Anthem eventually recovered its account, Vacirca said. However, the nightclub first had to create a backup account to reestablish contact with customers.

“We were able to get people onto the backup account and reconnect with some of our community,” he said. “But we went from 12,500 people down to 1,000 people. It’s a huge hit.”

Llewellyn said Savoy has now launched a third Instagram account because the club has faced account-access problems before. Losing its main Instagram presence has made event promotion more difficult.

“We’re not able to let people know about our events for the week or for the weekend or anything,” Llewellyn said. “And normally we would be paying them to advertise that as well.”

News 6 emailed Meta on Wednesday and followed up Thursday, asking what prompted the suspensions and whether human reviewers examined the appeals. The story will be updated if Meta responds.