There is a vacuum cleaner on the floor of Sauna Nieuwezijds in Amsterdam. An employee lights a cigarette behind the bar. It’s early; the first visitors have yet to arrive. The walls are painted red and covered with explicit photos of male bodies. Darkrooms are hidden behind heavy black curtains, furnished with mirrors and swings. There is a screen in some rooms. “For porn,” says employee Ahmad Hassan (34) dryly. “Sex is no longer taboo here.”
It’s different online. The gay sauna’s Instagram account has now been deleted three times, without warning or explanation. Caspar Pisters, who runs the social media of several queer collectives, sinks onto a leather couch in the lobby; purple light falls on his face. “According to their own system, the sauna did nothing wrong,” he says. “Instagram works with color codes that indicate whether the content violates the guidelines. The sauna was always green. This means that you adhere to all the rules.”
Well-known clubs have also been affected
Still, the account disappeared. And Sauna Nieuwezijds is not alone. Worldwide, more than eighty accounts of queer clubs, LGBTI+ organizations and progressive initiatives have been removed from Instagram and Facebook in the past four weeks. This is what the American anti-censorship organization says Repro Uncensored.
Administrators are not given a concrete reason and attempts to object are stalled
When Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Meta (the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram), just after President Trump’s inauguration early last year, video message posted and stated that the platform wanted fewer restrictions on comments about immigration and gender, Pisters briefly hoped that there would be room for a more flexible policy on LGBTI+ accounts. That was short-lived, because a month later the accounts he managed were deleted by Meta. Fifty other organizations lost their accounts.
Repro Uncensored is now seeing a second wave, in which, among other things, restored accounts have been deleted again. The pattern is the same every time: accounts suddenly disappear, administrators are given no concrete reason, and attempts to appeal stall.
Well-known clubs have also been affected. Berlin nightclub KitKat lost its account, as did LGBTI-friendly clubs in Amsterdam such as Tilla Tec and Club Church. The Dutch collective The Queer Agenda also lost its eleven thousand followers.
The impact is great, says Alberto Zatti (37), manager of Sauna Nieuwezijds. “People orientate themselves on social media, especially if they are not yet openly part of the community. We have not only lost our five thousand followers, but also the hundred thousand people who were silently watching.”
For Samuel King, director of Tilla Tec, the removal of the LGBTI-friendly nightclub’s Instagram account came as a blow. “I went completely crazy,” he says. “Forty thousand followers were gone in one go. You will immediately notice this in your turnover and ticket sales.”
He still doesn’t know what he did wrong. “Our posts were not controversial at all. After we were removed, Meta even indicated that we had not violated any guidelines.”
He does remember that the nightclub previously shared a post with collective The Queer Agenda, about the twenty-five anniversary of gay marriage. “That same night they were also removed,” says King. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
A Meta spokesperson said in a standard message NRC know that the company is investigating the deleted accounts. “While we always strive to enforce as accurately and consistently as possible, no system is perfect and we sometimes make mistakes. That’s why we offer the opportunity to appeal and encourage anyone who believes their account has been wrongly deleted to do so.” To the questions of NRC the company does not answer.
Domino effect
According to Martha Dimitratou, director of Repro Uncensored, the way moderation systems work plays a key role. “We see that conservative groups are reporting accounts en masse in a coordinated manner,” she says. “If such a report occurs often enough, the system will intervene.”
That system is largely automated. Artificial intelligence analyzes patterns and links accounts. “If one account is deleted, it can cause a domino effect,” says Dimitratou. “Accounts that share similar content are therefore at risk.” According to her, this explains why entire networks disappear at the same time.
I wanted to share something about Iran, but I don’t dare anymore
Objecting rarely helps. “The process runs via chatbots. It is virtually impossible to speak to a human,” says Dimitratou. “While platforms must be transparent according to European rules and must give users access to an effective complaints mechanism.”
Dr. Masuma Shahid, lawyer and university lecturer in queer rights and AI, is very concerned. “This looks like a purge of queer accounts,” she says. “Everyone has the right to access digital platforms, regardless of sexual preference. If certain groups are structurally hit harder, this must be seriously investigated.”
According to Shahid, European law requires major tech platforms to clearly explain why accounts are deleted. Users must also be given the opportunity to object. The European Commission previously criticized Meta’s transparency and initiated proceedings against the company. “If the platform cannot demonstrate that it complies with the rules, hefty fines may follow,” says Shahid.
Self-censorship and fear
The consequences extend beyond reach and revenue. According to Dimitratou, it also affects freedom of expression. “Platforms determine who is visible in the public debate,” she says. “When organizations disappear, their voices disappear too.”
That leads to caution. Or, as King from nightclub Tilla Tec describes it: fear. “I don’t even dare to post on my personal account that our club has been taken offline,” he says. “I’ll soon lose that too.” He notices that he is holding back. “I wanted to share something about Iran, but I don’t dare anymore.”
This reluctance is also what experts warn about. Not only LGBTI organizations, but also journalists, scientists and health institutions can be affected if they address sensitive topics, says Shahid. “We are already seeing that accounts that post about gender, abortion and diversity are being removed by Meta.”
Many affected organizations are turning to alternative platforms, such as Signal, Telegram and PixelFed. But they do not offer nearly the same range. “It feels like you have to start over,” says King. “You only realize how much power such a platform has when they take everything away from you.”
The first guests trickle in to the sauna. The bartender hands out cold beers and vitamin water. “Our regular guests still know where to find us,” says Pisters. “We just can’t reach new people anymore.”
