Pro-marijuana veterans group claims it was suspended from Instagram in act of censorship
What a buzzkill!
Instagram suspended the account of a pro-weed military veterans group, organizers said on Sunday.
“On November 21, 2024, our organization’s official Instagram account, @disabledveteransincannabis], was suddenly and unexpectedly suspended without any prior notice or explanation,” Osbert Orduna, co-founder of Service Disabled Veterans in Cannabis, told The Post.
“We have diligently adhered to Instagram’s terms of service and community guidelines, and we believe this suspension to be unjustified.”
He suspected the Meta-owned Instagram yanked the account because the word “cannabis” is in the group’s name and its digital logo includes a marijuana leaf. But the company didn’t inform the group why its account was suspended.
Instagram advised the suspended group that it has 180 days to appeal the suspension.
“We’ll take another look at your account. If we find your account does follow our community standards, you’ll be able to use Instagram again,” the social media firm told the disabled vets’ group.
“If we find your account doesn’t follow our community standards, it will be permanently disabled and you won’t be able to appeal again.”
The vets group is operating freely on X, and Orduna praised that platform’s owner Elon Musk for “doing the right thing” and taking a “rational position on cannabis.”
Orduna accused Instagram of acting as “judge, jury and executioner” by showing hostility to the growing legalized cannabis industry and to military veterans in particular.
“By comparison, Elon Musk and X are taking a responsible and rational position on cannabis,” he said.
On its X account, the pro-legal pot service disabled vets’ group said, “Where are the class action lawyers? Who else is tired of @Meta @instagram censorship of the word ‘CANNABIS’
“We are an advocacy group for Disabled Veterans, that’s it but maybe that’s too radical?,” the post went on.
It appealed to President-elect Donald Trump’s planned new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is to be headed by Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Maybe @DOGE @realDonaldTrump can stop the censorship,” the post concluded.
A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment.