Many sexual pleasure brands have felt the sting of these policies. When sex toy brand Womanizer saw its account banned in summer 2021 without ever knowing what policy it violated, the company had to ask its customers to submit complaints to Instagram to reinstate its account, in exchange for a product giveaway. The company even went so far as to offer Meta employees a complimentary toy if they submitted a short anonymous testimonial. Womanizer eventually got its account reinstated after two weeks.

“We hoped by asking an independent agency to take action that they could impact …. a wider array of companies,” CIJ’s Rotman said. “The calls to action about injunctive relief are actually to require change at Meta.”