Instagram has apologized to supermodel Bella Hadid following her public criticism of the social media platform for deleting a post she shared showing her father’s place of birth as Palestine.
After the Palestinian-American supermodel posted an image of real estate mogul Mohammed Hadid’s long-expired passport, with the passport number blurred out, Instagram sent her a removal notice claiming her post went against “community guidelines”.
Instagram removes Bella Hadid’s post showing her father's birthplace as Palestine on his American passport. Apparently being proud to be Palestinian is against Instagram’s “community guidelines”.https://t.co/zxfpFaxM9K pic.twitter.com/fFIaAlyXvO
— IMEU (@theIMEU) July 8, 2020
Hadid, 23, directly called out the social media site as she wrote, “what part of me being proud of my father’s birthplace of Palestine is ‘bullying, harassment, graphic or sexual nudity?’”
In response, Instagram said in a statement that the content “shouldn’t have been removed”.
“To protect the privacy of our community, we don’t allow people to post personal information, such as passport numbers, on Instagram,” said a spokesman from Instagram’s parent company Facebook.
“In this case the passport number was blurred out, so this content shouldn’t have been removed. We’ve restored the content and apologised to Bella for the mistake.”
Bella Hadid has a message for instagram after her post was removed about her father's birthplace, which is Palestine. You can not erase history by silencing people. She is proud of her roots. Stand with Palestine ✊ ❤️ #Palestinewillbefree #BellaHadid pic.twitter.com/JjF6Y0JsUT
— Ismail Hashim (@Itz_Smileeeee) July 9, 2020
The model re-posted the passport photo, which currently remains on her social media feed, and stated, “Do you want him to change his birth place for you? Everyone should post where their mother and fathers were born today! Remind them how proud you are of where you come from! I am proud to be Palestinian.”
The Hadid family have been vocal advocates of Palestinian rights for years, using their platforms to promote the cause.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
