The sex toy shop Bellesa Boutique said today that Instagram "permanently deleted" its account for using the word "clitoris."
Bellesa Boutique offers sex toys for any gender, from vibrators to cuffs. (Bellesa also has a sister site, hosting pornography marketed towards women.)
"Bellesa Boutique (@bellesaco) was just banned from Instagram," the shop posted from a new account, @bellesacensored, on March 31. The original Bellesa Instagram account had 700,000 followers and hosted over a decade's worth of content, the caption stated.
In a statement posted to X, the company provided this explanation: "Our violation? Using the word 'clitoris.'"
In email screenshots Bellesa shared with Mashable, Meta stated that the account was disabled for "violating Meta's Community Standards due to sexually explicit language in organic content." (Organic means that Bellesa shared the content on its account rather than in an advertisement.)
The email goes on:
Examples of content that is not allowed include sexually explicit language that uses explicit or graphic detail about:
Genitals
States of sexual arousal (e.g., wetness or erection)
Sexual encounters
Credit: Screenshot: Bellesa
This is language lifted from Meta's Community Standards concerning Adult Sexual Solicitation and Sexually Explicit Language, where it states that the above language isn't allowed, but does not include "content shared in a humorous, satirical context or as sexual cursing."
Cofounder and CEO of Bellesa, Michelle Shnaidman, told Mashable that there wasn't any opportunity to appeal or review specific content before deletion, nor was the company given any warning. The Bellesa team was locked out of the account entirely on Saturday morning, and they were given a notice through the app.
The email also states that the company reviewed the case and determined the account violated its guidelines and can't be re-enabled.
"For over a decade, hundreds of thousands of people came to the @bellesaco community to learn about and celebrate their own bodies — a safe, shame-free space to discuss sexual wellness and pleasure. Instagram deleted it for 'sexually explicit language,' meaning discussing women's bodies in a health context is treated as inherently unacceptable," Shnaidman told Mashable over email.
The account deletion happened days after Meta was found guilty (along with YouTube) of negligent platform design that resulted in the harm of a young person's mental health. (Meta has said it will appeal the verdict.)
Credit: Screenshot: Mashable
"Four days after losing a $375M lawsuit in court, Meta needed to look tough," the @bellesacensored post continues. "Instead of fixing what got them sued, they banned a women's sexual health community."
Shnaidman stated similarly that Bellesa wasn't the problem Meta was sued over. "But we're easier to ban than the content that actually got them into court," she said.
This isn't the first time Meta deleted content from a sex toy shop. In 2023, Meta reportedly rejected ads from another sex toy shop, Unbound, until it marketed to men. That same year, Meta seemed to reject period care ads for being "adult" or "political." (Meanwhile, explicit AI girlfriends were OK to advertise on Meta in 2024.) And for years, sex workers as well as LGBTQ content creators have told Mashable that they, too, have been banned or shadowbanned from Instagram.
In a 2025 study on the suppression of sexual and reproductive health on major platforms like Meta, the Center for Intimacy Justice found that of the groups studied, 63 percent had organic content removed from Meta platforms, and 84 percent of businesses and 76 percent of nonprofits had ads rejected by Meta.
The nonprofit Repro Uncensored, which monitors and tracks censorship, documented a wave of increased censorship in Nov. and Dec. 2025, its executive director, Martha Dimitratou, told Mashable.
Even in the last few days, they've seen a new wave of accounts taken down by Meta, including LGBTQ accounts and even accounts for nightclubs. Dimitratou couldn't pinpoint exactly why this is happening right now, but it could be a mix of AI content moderation, people reporting these accounts, or a big political or legal event — like the Meta trial.
Bellesa's Facebook account remains up, along with some Reels, though it has around 40,000 followers compared to Instagram's 700,000.
Mashable has reached out to Meta for comment.
"The ability to discuss sexual health online is how an entire generation of women learned what endometriosis is, what a cervical exam involves, that their experiences are normal," Shnaidman said. "Take that away and you're not protecting anyone — you're pushing these convos back into the dark."
from Mashable https://ift.tt/l5nEXBi
