Shadowbanning, also called stealth banning, hellbanning, ghost
banning or comment ghosting, is the practice of blocking or partially blocking a user or the user’s
content from some areas of an online community in such a way that the ban is not readily apparent to
the user. (Wikipedia).
While they do not acknowledge it, there are clear indications that shadowbanning is
practiced by some social networks.
If a user is shadowbanned on Instagram, their content will only appear in their
followers’ feed, and they are unable to reach out to non-followers. This occurs when certain
conditions or limits are violated. For instance, use of automated tools to run an account, the
excessive use of hashtags, or the use of a hashtag that has been overtaken by inappropriate content.
Information on banned hashtags is readily available on several online sites.
