These Developers Fixed Instagram. Facebook Banned Their Accounts. – VICE

Instagram logos. Getty imagesDevelopers of an app that clones Instagram without the ads claim that Facebook and Instagram banned the personal accounts of their staff, in retaliation for making a better version of Instagram.A spokesperson for The OG App told Motherboard that since the team’s personal accounts were not linked to the app, they believe that a Meta employee searched their identities on Google to carry out the bans. “This is a gross misuse of their power and this is clearly extralegal retaliation simply because we made Instagram into something people actually want to use,” The OG App said in an email to Motherboard.“Meta is intent on taking extraordinary measures to suppress and censor us simply because we did right by their users,” a spokesperson for The OG App said in a tweet.The app promises users “the OG Instagram experience,” according to its website, with features like customizable feeds and the removal of reels and advertisements. Apple removed the app from its App Store on September 27; Google also removed the app from Google Play following Apple’s removal. A spokesperson for Meta told Motherboard in an email statement, “This app violates our policies and we’re taking all appropriate enforcement actions” and included…
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