It looks like Instagram might have to have to do something about how they filter out potentially dangerous rhetoric on its platform.
On Monday (April 17), Ice Spice posted a photo of herself from a new music video she and Nicki Minaj produced for their remix of “Princess Diana.” The rising star captioned the photo with, “Ayo Isis.” Ice Spice’s birth name is Isis Naija Gaston, so she was referencing her first name.
Instagram, however, removed the post because it said it violated its “community guidelines on violence or dangerous organizations.”
This obvious misunderstanding, of course, stems from the fact that “Isis” is also the name of a violent militant Islamist group. Ice Spice responded to her post being removed from Instagram: “Can’t type my name is ode,” she wrote alongside a screenshot of the deleted post. “Ode” is slang for “too much.”
According to Baby Center, the name Isis peaked in popularity in 1999, the year before Ice Spice was born, with it meaning supreme goddess. This year, the name has seen its biggest resurgence in 25 years.
Instagram mistakenly removing posts it deems dangerous or inappropriate is nothing new. In the past, the social media platform has banned posts on the popular hip-hop dance known as the Crip Walk, apparently because it associated the word “Crip” with the street gang known as the Crips.
Last year, Instagram even removed a post from legendary parody musician “Weird Al” Yankovic that featured him posing for a photo with a Pablo Escobar lookalike. “Ha! OK, Instagram,” Yankovic sarcastically responded.
Watch Ice Spice and Minaj’s music video for “Princess Diana” below.