Republican Party National Spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany tweeted on Wednesday that Facebook-owned platform Instagram threatened to disable her account after removing an image of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)’s old Texas state bar registration card in which she claims Native American heritage.
The 1986 registration card was published on Tuesday in a scoop by the Washington Post.
Warren’s consistent claim of Cherokee ancestry was frequently mocked by conservatives and President Donald Trump, especially after DNA analysis released in October—which showed “strong evidence”“ of Native American ancestry six to ten generations back—proved insufficient for a claim to any specific tribal nation.
The controversial narrative has reemerged once again, however, as Warren establishes her 2020 presidential bid.
Despite the fact that Warren apologized again following Tuesday’s Washington Post article, conservatives jumped at the news.
It was in doing this that McEnany was hit with a warning by Instagram. The platform deemed the post in violation of its terms of use.
“I have been warned by @instagram and cannot operate my account because I posted an image of Elizabeth Warren’s Bar of Texas registration form via @washingtonpost,” she wrote. “I’m warned that I am “harassing,” “bullying,” and “blackmailing” her”
McEnany says her post wasn’t taken down on Facebook or Twitter.
I have been warned by @instagram and cannot operate my account because I posted an image of Elizabeth Warren’s Bar of Texas registration form via @washingtonpost.
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 6, 2019
I’m warned that I am “harassing,” “bullying,” and “blackmailing” her.
(See below!) pic.twitter.com/uMMlmCbxjz
The accompanying text to the @washingtonpost image was Warren in her own words.
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 6, 2019
See my identical Tweet below which still stands (as does my Facebook one): pic.twitter.com/YSGpoUf2d0
Still, McEnany is convinced that the platform is engaged in politically motivated censorship to “protect 2020 Dems.”
This is outrageous. @Instagram is targeting conservatives and actively trying to protect 2020 Dems.
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 6, 2019
The censorship from big tech of conservatives has to stop.
UPDATE: It’s 3:44pm & I still can’t access my @instagram account unless I hit “OK” & outrageously agree that posting Warren’s widely reported bar card is “bullying,” “harassment,” & “blackmail.”
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 6, 2019
I won’t agree to that illogical & asinine assertion. Shame on you @Instagram! pic.twitter.com/US4SqswuLg
It’s possible that the post was flagged by Instagram because it included some identifying information, such as Warren’s office address. However, that information is decades out of date.
The Daily Dot reached out to Instagram for comment but has not received a response.
Update 7:30am CT, Feb. 7: In a statement to the Daily Dot, Instagram confirmed the post was flagged because of the identifying information, but that action was performed in error.
“We incorrectly removed this image for including personal information, in this case the home address of someone else, which is not allowed on Instagram. On secondary review, we confirmed that the image included an office address and not a personal home address. The content has now been restored and we apologize for the mistake.”
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