The medical use of marijuana in California has been legal since 1996, but cannabis dealers still face difficulties marketing their products on social media due to its federal illegality. Many social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook in particular, shut down cannabis related content and deactivate accounts promoting any form of THC product. However, we were able to identify several guidelines that could prevent your account from being closed.
First, there are certain words that, when incorporated into a promotional social media post, automatically prompt account deactivation. These include, but are not limited to: “cannabis”, “marijuana”, “THC” and any advertising or direct sales of cannabis. Instagram allows marijuana promotion and educational pages as long as they do not directly promote the sale of cannabis products. It is also essential to display disclaimers on all photos that mention marijuana that clarify the drinking age limit of 21 and over, as well as the potential side effects of the drug. This removes any illegality in selling to minors and reinforces the educational priority of your social media page rather than your brand promotional intentions.
Cannabis-related content and account removal
Due to these strict policies, cannabis-related content and accounts may be removed at any time. Even accounts that don’t post 420-compliant content (no smoking or bud images) can be removed if Instagram detects that you’re connected to a cannabis-related business.
While Instagram is the main concern, Facebook’s platform also removes marijuana-related content and accounts. Facebook’s policy states: “Some of these items are not regulated everywhere; however, due to the borderless nature of our community, we try to enforce our policies as consistently as possible. We define pharmaceutical drugs as drugs used to treat medical conditions that are not widely available without a prescription. “We prohibit the ‘buying or selling of tobacco, marijuana, or drugs.’ Here’s what it will look like if Facebook removes a post for cannabis-related content. Photos of cannabis or people using cannabis can be removed if they go in against community guidelines. The image below shows what it looks like when one of your photos is removed from Instagram. When your content is removed, the platform warns you that your account may also be removed if you continue to not follow the guidelines. Instagram will often prioritize removal of flagged content, which means that haters and unethical competitors can, unfortunately, conspire to remove your page – until recently, this was the leading cause of content and account removal. However, in late 2020, Instagram and Facebook brought an observable shift in their AI-restricted content detection, as cannabis accounts and photos were targeted. s to the extreme. If you accumulate enough posts that violate the IG Community Guidelines, your account will likely be disabled.
For consumers
For consumers, Instagram’s guidelines are a little different. Whatever you post, whether it’s marijuana in Orange County, moon rocks in Orange County, edibles, or CBD oil, you’ll need to be careful. Take as many photos of your products as you like, there are medical marijuana advocates posting daily about the properties of the plant, as well as its medicinal effects, which are always making the rounds with no problem. You can also post photos of items from your local dispensary that you want to try, and that’s fine. Posts on political issues related to the use of marijuana for medical purposes are also not a problem. However, if you do post about the drug, make sure there are no photos of you using it, because that is prohibited on Instagram.
Instagram seems to have a finger on the line that its owner, Facebook, has no intention of crossing. There may be several reasons for Instagram’s decision. First, the average Instagram user is younger than the average Facebook user. While millennials and Gen Z have tended to stay on Instagram and Snapchat, older millennials and Gen X, as well as some baby boomers, have turned to Facebook. Facebook appears to be tightly policing your content after the site’s last security scrutiny in 2016.
Instagram Text and Object Detection
To be honest, it’s very hard to find accurate information about this program . As far as I can see, the image may contain a part of image analysis for objects and text. As seen in our photos, it is very accurate and is almost 100% correct in the screenshots we have taken. From there, Instagram appears to categorize your images with the corresponding meta information. Cannabis is undoubtedly classified as a plant, also of nature and outdoors. This is quite an impressive feat as images are historically difficult to decipher compared to text documents. And keep in mind, that’s all you see from the front.
This, combined with your hashtags, comments and post text, your username, your profile bio, makes it extremely easy for Instagram’s AI to understand what you post. And this is a learning computer. This is most likely new to Cannabis Law, and I’m probably making a bunch of mistakes.
Is posting cannabis photos on Instagram really worth the risk?
While posting marijuana-related images on Instagram is technically legal, it’s not a good idea. In fact, Instagram prohibits the advertising and sale of marijuana, no matter where it is sold or where the seller is from. Therefore, if you post cannabis photos online, you risk legal repercussions. There is marijuana content on Twitter and YouTube that is a bit lighter than what is available on other websites. Twitter prohibits the promotion of drugs and drug paraphernalia, but it’s okay to post photos of marijuana if you live in a state where it’s legal. However, YouTube does not explicitly prohibit the sale of marijuana, nor does it specify what content it prohibits. Therefore, if you intend to post marijuana photos on social media, you should stick to Instagram and avoid getting entangled in legal trouble.
As of April 2019, Snapchat prohibits accounts that promote the use of illegal drugs, including marijuana. The app will now use artificial intelligence to scan photos and videos for illegal drug content. If a user is caught promoting the use of illegal drugs, their account will be banned.