As naturopathic doctor Jessica Nazareth started promoting her upcoming wellness summit on Instagram, she noticed her posts stopped getting their typical reach.
asserted
posts → start → reach
Then Meta flagged six posts promoting the event, which is focused on inclusive, holistic and community-driven health education for LGBTQ women and non-binary people.
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which → flag → women
Next, her ability to create advertisements on Instagram was removed.
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ability → create → Instagram
Nazareth has had issues with Meta for years.
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Nazareth → have → years
She specializes in reproductive and sexual wellness, and said she has shifted the way she functions online to ensure her account isn’t removed.
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account → specialize → way
These days, she uses code words and deliberate misspellings on Instagram to avoid being flagged.
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she → use → Instagram
She said her posts don’t violate the social media giant’s policies.
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posts → say → policies
Three of the flagged posts were promoting a sensual movement dance class.
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Three → flag → class
Another was a video of people sitting on yoga mats in a studio during a presentation, as well as footage from the dance class, with text on the screen that said “POV: you found an event about sx, pleasure and intimacy JUST FOR SAPPHICS.”
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you → sit → SAPPHICS
She also faced initial restrictions from the ticketing platform Eventbrite.
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She → face → platform
There’s nothing that’s super out there,” she said of the posts.
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she → ’ → posts
Though she has appealed and her account is in good standing, she still can’t create ads, she said.
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she → appeal → ads
So she pivoted.
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she → pivot → ?
Nazareth said she has relied on putting up flyers, word of mouth and asked people involved in the summit to share posts about the event to their Instagram Stories to create buzz.
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she → say → buzz
The event has sold over 75 of 100 available tickets.
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event → sell → tickets
Starlotte Satine is trying to promote an upcoming show at the El Mocambo but says her livelihood is at risk.
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livelihood → try → risk
Starlotte Satine is trying to promote an upcoming show at the El Mocambo but says her livelihood is at risk.
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livelihood → try → risk
Throughout 2026, Toronto strippers, sex workers, burlesque dancers, drag queens and queer party planners and now a naturopath have been accused by Meta of posting content that violates its community guidelines, even though their posts don’t appear to break company rules.
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posts → accuse → rules
Many of them say this has jeopardized their livelihoods because social media is the primary way they market their events.
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they → say → events
Meta has not replied to the Star’s ongoing requests for comment.
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Meta → reply → comment
Nazareth turned to Tiktok, and though she had one post removed, she posted several videos of herself talking about the summit that found the audience she sought.
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she → turn → audience
She also went into queer-associated businesses to ask if she could put up a flyer for the summit in their stores.
uncertain
she → go → stores
She also asked people who were not involved with the event but who had online reach within the broader sapphic community to share the event.
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who → ask → event
“I think that’s the biggest thing: how much community was open to supporting me in getting the word out there,” she said.
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she → think → word
This is the second event of its kind organized by Nazareth.
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This → organize → Nazareth
The Sapphic Wellness Summit, which will run Sunday at Society Clubhouse on College Street, aims to create a “shame-free, inclusive reproductive health education,” with a focus on queer, sapphic-identifying people.
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which → run → people
Nazareth said she wanted to create the summit because of a general lack of wellness events for sapphics in Toronto.
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she → say → Toronto
Every person involved in the summit identifies as sapphic, an umbrella term that includes lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, two-spirit, trans and non-binary folks, Nazareth said.
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Nazareth → involve → lesbians
“It creates that space that’s super-safe to explore conversations and topics that can be vulnerable.”
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that → create → conversations
On Friday, one of the summit’s performers had her account deleted by Meta.
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account → have → Meta
Meta accused Gushy, an interdisciplinary artist and “pro dominant,” of promoting slavery and soliciting sex, then updated the message to say she was promoting human exploitation.
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she → accuse → exploitation
A second account she’d previously made as a backup was also swiftly deleted.
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she → make → backup
“We don’t allow people on Instagram to bypass actions we take against them by creating new profiles,” read a Meta popup notice she received.
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she → allow → profiles
When she submitted an appeal, Meta asked that she upload ID and allow a facial recognition scan.
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she → submit → scan
“I built that (primary Instagram page) off being a teacher and performer for 10 years,” she said.
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she → build → years
“It was my main place to promote my business and stay connected to my community and getting booked.
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It → promote → community
A notice from Eventbrite
Eventbrite, the online platform, sent Nazareth a notice by email on Aug. 22, the day after she posted the summit on its platform, which said the event “may not appear in searches or categories intended for all-ages, family-friendly, or under-18 audiences, but it may still appear for users searching for adult-themed events.”
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it → send → events
(Eventbrite isn’t owned by Meta.)
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Eventbrite → own → Meta
However, Eventbrite’s terms state that only users who are the legal age of majority (18 in Ontario) can create accounts and use the platform.
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who → state → platform
The notice also said Nazareth would not be able to appeal this decision, and that appeals were only available to residents of the European Union.
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appeals → say → Union
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
