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Facebook and Instagram might have found themselves in some trouble after it a number of users ran to Twitter to complain of having their #EndSARS posts flagged.
As expected, the issue had multiple social media users rattled and reasonably so. At such a time when every voice is needed to speak out against the grave situation in Nigeria, it would seem odd for any site to be blocking posts in support of the campaign.
The protests, which have last for almost two weeks now, began as the people of Nigeria were demonstrating against the infamous SARS police squad. This Nigerian police force has been accused of malicious acts against the people which is the exact opposite of what they are set to do. From extrajudicial killings to extortion and even rape, the unit has certainly been wreaking havoc in Nigeria.
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What made the situation certainly worse was the killings that took place on Tuesday as the military opened fire on a group of peaceful protesters in Lagos.
So, users attempted to post content under the #EndSARS hashtag only to receive an alert stating “false information on your post”. The outrage was then focused highly on Facebook and Instagram with many believing that the companies and their boss Mark Zuckerberg had an agenda against the course.
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is also an enemy of Nigerians, he has also flagged my Instagram account, my content can no longer reach a larger audience#EndSars #BuhariResignNow #BuhariMustGo
— Adenekan Mayowa (@Mayorspeaks) October 21, 2020
When asked by VICE News, a Facebook spokesperson responded saying that there was no malicious reason other than an issue on both platforms that was causing the posts to be incorrectly flagged as false.
Later on today, Instagram took it to Twitter to apologise for the issue and promise to work on it promptly.
“Yesterday our systems were incorrectly flagging content in support of #EndSARS and marking posts as false. We are deeply sorry for this. The issue has now been resolved, and we apologize for letting our community down in such a time of need,” the tweet said.
Yesterday our systems were incorrectly flagging content in support of #EndSARS, and marking posts as false. We are deeply sorry for this. The issue has now been resolved, and we apologize for letting our community down in such a time of need.
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) October 22, 2020
You can obviously understand the frustration of many people as reports came in that the Nigerian government was warning the media against reporting the situation in the country.
Hopefully, the sister sites will work on the flagging issue quick.
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