The End of AFM?

Hello friends,

Unfortunately, I have to let you know that all AFM accounts on Instagram have now been suspended by Meta. One after another. It did not matter whether an account had already published content or not.

Many people believe that such decisions are made by humans. The reality today is quite different. The vast majority of reviews and suspensions are carried out automatically by systems and algorithms. These systems evaluate many different factors at the same time and operate according to platform policies as well as legal requirements, particularly those that apply in Europe.

You may be thinking: “That can’t be true. I constantly see sexualized or fetish-related content on Instagram.” At first glance, that may seem contradictory. However, the larger and more successful an account becomes, the more closely it is monitored and the stricter the controls become.

The main problem is that new accounts are often identified in advance as potential attempts to bypass a previous suspension. If a new account is linked to a suspended one, it can be automatically disabled before any content has even been published.

What makes this especially frustrating is that I currently do not even have the opportunity to appeal. Instagram requires an SMS verification code, but the code is never delivered to me. Without it, I cannot access the appeal process.

To be honest, the whole situation has been very discouraging. AFM was much more than just an account to me. It was a story, a creative project, and something into which I invested a great deal of time, energy, and passion. Continuing the story exclusively on a website, without any realistic way of promoting it through social media, makes little sense to me at the moment.

Because of that, I genuinely do not know if, or how, the story will continue. Perhaps I simply need some time and distance to rediscover the joy of creating. Or perhaps it is time to explore new creative directions and focus on other projects.

Thank you to everyone who followed AFM, supported it, and grew attached to its characters and stories.

Yours,

Giorgio