Instagram censors accounts of Paralympian, other athletes on USA Shooting teams for firearm photos

A Paralympian has had her Instagram account censored because of competition pictures with her firearms just weeks before she competes in Paris, as other Olympic athletes on USA shooting teams have also run into the same issue.

As the Olympic Games are scheduled to start next week in Paris with the Paralympics the following month, some athletes have had their Instagram accounts restricted, with one Paralympian being unable to appeal the social media company’s decision on her account.

McKenna Geer, who is a competitive rifle shooter on Team USA for the Paralympics, has had her Instagram account restricted because of photos she has posted with firearms at competition.

On Wednesday, Geer posted on Instagram screenshots of the social media platform’s notification of her account being restricted.

“I have always feared the day the media would censor my sport and speech just because I use firearms,” she wrote. “That day has finally come."

“This sport is life-changing because of its ability to unite both able-bodied and disabled athletes, young and old, foreign and domestic,” Geer continued. “Me and my fellow athletes rely on our social media accounts to spread the word about our sport, firearm safety, build our personal brand, and connect with potential sponsors. Many of us (myself included) are either not paid or paid very little for our involvement in this sport. Our social media presence can often be the avenue that pays for us to continue competing.”

Geer qualified earlier this month to compete in the Paralympics in Paris next month. She is a wife and mother, and was "[b]orn with amyoplasia arthrogryposis in her left hand and both feet, causing her muscles not to form properly," according to her profile on Team USA's website.

Geer won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and also competed in Tokyo's 2020 Paralympics.

She told Just the News on Thursday that she stumbled upon the change in her Instagram account status last week and found that three of her posts had been flagged.

According to the Instagram notification, Geer’s account and the three flagged posts are not recommended to non-followers.

“Your account and content won’t appear in places like Explore, Search, Suggested Users, Reels, and Feed Recommendations,” the Instagram notification reads.

The notification also tells Geer to consider editing her profile and either edit or remove the flagged posts.

Geer said her Instagram account says that she “should have the option to appeal the decision,” but the button to appeal it doesn’t work.

She reached out to the USA Shooting public relations and communications manager on Monday regarding the restrictions on her Instagram account. The manager contacted Meta, the parent company of Instagram, which responded Monday via email.

“On Facebook and Instagram’s Help Center websites (here and here), we indicate that while some content may be allowable, it may not be eligible for recommendation, including certain regulatory goods that ‘impedes our ability to foster a safe community.’ Help Center entries do not explicitly reference firearms as a regulated good; however, it does include a link to the Community Standards, which identifies firearms as a regulated good,” Meta wrote.

Regarding Instagram’s detection of firearms, Meta said, “We use technology and human review teams to detect and review potentially violating content and accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Our systems are not perfect and we’re constantly doing work to improve (you can learn more about how we train our technology here).”

The social media company included standard guidelines that said Geer could appeal the decision, but also mentioned that they were aware she is unable to appeal.

The USA Shooting media manager responded, saying, “I understand the policies Meta has in place to ensure the safety of their social platforms. What I do not understand are Olympic and Paralympic firearms being flagged as something that 'impedes our ability to foster a safe community.' When our athletes make posts with their firearms in the photos, they are showing off their sport that they have worked so hard for to compete on a global stage. Our athletes have never made any posts that insinuate any sort of violence, unsafe use of firearms, or an unsafe community. USA Shooting and our athletes take firearm safety very seriously.”

The most recent Meta email from Monday said, “Based on my previous conversations with our internal teams, posts that include regulated goods are not allowed on our platforms under any circumstances, even if they are non-threatening in nature. There may be some instances after appealing, where the decisions are overturned, so I always encourage users to appeal them in-app.”

Meta added that they were trying to determine why Geer is unable to appeal the decision to restrict her profile and posts.

Geer told Just the News that she doesn’t “ever recall having this problem before” with her posts and account being restricted. She added that she has “received messages from the last 24 hours from athletes, Paralympic medalists, and up and coming shooters that can't grow their following because of this.”

Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

USA Shooting CEO Kelly Reisdorf told Just the News on Monday that Geer isn’t the only shooting athlete who has experienced issues with Instagram restricting her account.

“In the last 12 months, we’ve had three or four top-level, visible athletes with this problem. They’ve always had the ability to appeal. I still don't agree with it, but they had the ability to appeal,” and have Instagram reevaluate it, Reisdorf said.

“These athletes are models – the gold standard for marksmanship and discipline,” she added. “I’m for responsible use of social media,” Reisdorf said, adding that the content posted by Team USA athletes is the “epitome for wholesomeness, shooting sports,” and is an example of what good marksmanship looks like.

“My concern is, is she gonna be prevented from existing sponsor agreements, because social media is a big part of it, and getting new sponsors” after qualifying with Team USA, she added.

Instagram doesn’t “consistently apply this” policy, Reisdorf said. “I could find 50 other athletes, top competitors around the world, with the same content and they’re not flagged,” she continued.

Reisdorf noted that she has been unable “to figure out why” Instagram goes “after certain athletes, but leaves certain ones alone.”

She also said that there should be fair treatment of all athletes, and that this is a “unique context around Olympic and Paralympic athletes representing our country at the games. It feels very un-American, the timing of begin censored.”

Reisdorf explained that they “will definitely be engaging” with congressmen in Colorado over this issue, since the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center is based there.

“Within the industry and ecosystem of shooting sports, these athletes are not a threat to community safety,” she said. “They're role models for how to handle sporting equipment and discipline required for marksmanship. I just hate to see the mistreatment, and hopefully we'll be able to resolve it.”

George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf told Just the News on Thursday regarding the athletes' censored Instagram accounts, "It is bad enough when fundamental rights are violated by censorship when a person in fact says something truly controversial, and completely outside generally accepted norms of debate, but it is an even greater affront to liberty itself when they reportedly are silenced not for anything they may have said, but for simply appearing in photographs holding their Olympic implements."

"Owning a gun is hardly un-American, since our country has more guns than citizens, shooting sports have long been a proud tradition at the Olympics supported and participated in by more than 100 countries, and the right not only to own firearms but also to use them in public places is protected by the Constitution," he continued. "Indeed, owning a gun is one of the few rights clearly spelled out in the Constitution, and comes before other fundamental rights such as to due process and equal protection.

"I would strongly encourage everyone who is a friend on any of the censored athletes to post the thoughts and messages of these American heroes for them if this outrage cannot be corrected," Banzhaf said.