Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid says Instagram 'shadow-banned' her for Al-Aqsa posts

Supermodel Bella Hadid has claimed that the photo-sharing app Instagram is "shadow-banning" her, following posts she made on Friday about Israeli violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

Hadid, who is of Palestinian and Dutch heritage, said via Instagram Stories that the app is suppressing her content "pretty much only when it’s Palestine based".

"When I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost 1 million less of you see my stories and posts," read her story post.

this is so gross pic.twitter.com/1TusCn8qQY

— س (@azkdIin) April 15, 2022

Shadow-banning refers to blocking or partially blocking a user from posting content on an online community or social networking app.

The model had made several posts about Israeli forces’ aggression on Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, where more than 150 Palestinians were injured Friday when Israeli forces raided the mosque compound, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.

Hadid was eventually able to post videos on the Al-Aqsa violence, though some of her content was flagged as sensitive.

Bella Hadid and her sister, fellow model Gigi, often use the app to raise awareness about Israeli violence against Palestinians, as well as Islamophobia worldwide.

In 2020, Instagram removed a picture posted by Hadid of her father’s passport, which showed his birthplace as Palestine.