Update Instagram's Terms of Service to Include the Cannabis Community

Update Instagram's Terms of Service to Include the Cannabis Community

Started
August 27, 2018
Signatures: 58,258Next Goal: 75,000
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Why this petition matters

Started by Bess Byers

On Instagram’s release date October 6, 2010, only five states allowed medical cannabis consumption. After 12 years, laws are changing. As of 2023, 38 states have medical or recreational cannabis laws. But it’s not just the U.S., legalization has gone global. On July 1, 2018, Canada became the first G7 country to pass nationwide recreational laws. Today Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic and Uruguay have all passed medical, recreational, small possession or decriminalization legislation. 


It seems the only place legalization is not happening, is on Instagram.


Today, legal cannabis producers, processors, retailers, ancillary businesses, advocates and influencers are all targeted by Instagram’s Terms of Service. Pages are deactivated without warning, while Instagram provides zero transparency as to why. Years of work gets deleted at the click of a button.


Instagram claims to foster community, while ours is targeted. The legal cannabis industry employs an estimated 243,700 people in the United States per a 2020 Leafly jobs report. Washington state generated $512 million in legal marijuana income and license fees in 2022 alone. We aren’t a community of criminals. We are mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, entrepreneurs and even grandparents who make a legal living while contributing to the economy. During the pandemic, politicians even deemed us "essential."


We ask Instagram, please update your Terms of Service to reflect changing cannabis laws. Stop targeting legal businesses, advocates and influencers. End the censorship and suppression of cannabis content. Allow pages to promote posts and be verified. Most importantly, we ask Instagram to provide greater transparency surrounding their Terms of Service.

 
Our community wants to play by Instagram’s rules. We don’t want our products in the hands of minors, nor do we want pages tricking people into online sales. What we want is to educate consumers on growing, terpenes, responsible consumption, events and legalization. If Instagram does not update their Terms of Service, the #cannabiscommunity will be forced to take our 10.2 million hashtags to another platform.


Instagram, please do the right thing. Update your Terms of Service, stop targeting cannabis content and allow our community to exist peacefully on your platform. Legalization is here to stay and we hope you will support our industry as we continue to grow.

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Signatures: 58,258Next Goal: 75,000
Support now
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