The assemblages of flagging and de-platforming against marginalised content creators

Abstract

This study examines how de-platforming and flagging assemble to replicate offline inequalities, making content creators at the margins vulnerable to both online abuse and censorship on Instagram and TikTok. Highlighting gaps in online harms literature surrounding the misuse of this functionality, this paper frames misused or malicious flagging as online abuse through interviews with users who believed they were de-platformed this way, showcasing this practice’s emotional and financial impact on targets and creating a framework to identify it through users’ gossip.