My old meme got zapped for 'hate speech' because it had a frog in it

Back in 2017, I'd just post a Pepe the Frog image as a general reaction to anything. Now, I have to check a 3-page platform guideline before using any cartoon animal. The whole thing feels like walking on eggshells. Anyone else had a totally harmless image get flagged just because of its history?

4 comments

4 Comments

olivers283mo ago

Was it actually flagged for the frog itself though? Sometimes the context or caption gets a post in trouble, not just the image. I miss when you could just post a funny picture without overthinking it.

the_julia3mo ago

Check the notification email if you got one, it usually spells out the exact reason. In my experience, captions with certain words trigger the filter way more than the image itself. You can try re-uploading it with a totally plain description to test the theory.

pat_park2mo agoTop Commenter

Yeah, I got a drawing of a plain frog taken down once too, but turns out the background had a symbol I didn't even notice. Reminds me of when @barbara278 said the same thing about captions causing trouble more than the image itself. I quit trying to figure out what's offensive and just stick to posting photos of my dog now.

barbara2782mo ago

Honestly though, isn't it kind of a good thing that platforms are finally paying attention to how symbols get twisted over time? I mean, Pepe the Frog was literally co-opted by hate groups for years, so it's not like the flags are coming out of nowhere. I've had a drawing of a simple green frog get taken down too, but looking back, the caption I used had a reference that could totally be read as dogwhistle language even if I didn't mean it that way. Tbh, the guidelines are annoying but they're trying to stop actual harassment from slipping through.