# Meta Is Blocking Links to Decentralized Instagram Competitor Pixelfed

Source: https://www.404media.co/meta-is-blocking-links-to-decentralized-instagram-competitor-pixelfed
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Meta-Is-Blocking-Links-to-Decentralized-Instagram-Competitor-Pixelfed?index=0x6786224f195940fb0e64ed72d9000f8d0d64c1673a3e48c50d08e40bf6e4a6a01d97cdcc
Submitted by misha on 2025-01-14 UTC, 2 upvotes, 3 comments

## Summary

Meta is deleting links to Pixelfed, a decentralized, open-source Instagram competitor, on Facebook, where it labels pixelfed.social links as "spam" and removes them immediately. Bluesky user AJ Sadauskas first reported the deletions, and 404 Media said its own attempt to post a Pixelfed link on Facebook was also deleted at once. The article links the blocking to a surge in Pixelfed signups after Meta loosened its rules on describing LGBTQ+ people as "mentally ill," and Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

## Article

Meta is deleting links to Pixelfed, a decentralized Instagram competitor. On Facebook, the company is labeling links to Pixelfed.social as “spam” and deleting them immediately.

Pixelfed is an open-source, community funded and decentralized image sharing platform that runs on Activity Pub, which is the same technology that supports Mastodon and other federated services. Pixelfed.social is the largest Pixelfed server, which was launched in 2018 but has gained renewed attention over the last week.

Bluesky user AJ Sadauskas originally posted that links to Pixelfed were being deleted by Meta; 404 Media then also tried to post a link to Pixelfed on Facebook. It was immediately deleted.

Pixelfed is experiencing a surge in user signups in recent days, after Meta announced that it would loosen its rules to allow users to call LGBTQ+ people “mentally ill” amid a host of other changes that shift the company overtly to the right. Meta and Instagram have also leaned heavily into AI-generated content. Pixelfed announced earlier Monday that it is launching an iOS app later this week.

Pixelfed said Sunday it is “seeing unprecedented levels of traffic to pixelfed.social.”

Over the weekend, Daniel Supernault, the creator of Pixelfed, published a “declaration of fundamental rights and principles for ethical digital platforms, ensuring privacy, dignity, and fairness in online spaces.” The open source charter, which has been adopted by Pixelfed and can be adopted by other platforms, contains sections titled “right to privacy,” “freedom from surveillance,” “safeguards against hate speech,” “strong protections for vulnerable communities,” and “data portability and user agency.”

“Pixelfed is a lot of things, but one thing it is not, is an opportunity for VC or others to ruin the vibe. I've turned down VC funding and will not inject advertising of any form into the project,” Supernault wrote on Mastodon. “Pixelfed is for the people, period.”

Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

About the author

Jason is a cofounder of 404 Media. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Motherboard. He loves the Freedom of Information Act and surfing.

## Comments

**tim**: > “Pixelfed is a lot of things, but one thing it is not, is an opportunity for VC or others to ruin the vibe. I've turned down VC funding and will not inject advertising of any form into the project,” Supernault wrote on Mastodon. “Pixelfed is for the people, period.”

**misha**: lol you can still claim 3 letter usernames on the main Pixelfed instance. https://pixelfed.social/p/mdr/784718552914215499

anyway decentralizing ! ;)

**misha**: Pixelfed is going fast 🏃🏻‍♂️💨. They just introduced their iOS app like few hours ago. https://mastodon.social/@pixelfed/113827215345246692

It looks really a lot like IG visually (apart from the content and I don’t know anyone, feels a bit like Flickr back in the days lol, the content I mean.)

Guess they have a room full of devs trying to keep up with the momentum. Being Pixelfed you’ll probably not getting another opportunity like this very soon.