‘Men are scum’, a term used to deride men online have been flagged as offensive by Facebook and Instagram.

Checks by Peoples Gazette show that multiple posts containing the ‘offensive’ phrase on Instagram and Facebook were taken down within minutes of being uploaded. The  posts had been flagged for going against the social media apps community guidelines. 

“We use either technology or a review team to remove anything that doesn’t follow our guidelines as quickly as possible,” Instagram said. 

However, both platforms have been taking down and flagging posts with ‘men are scum’ and other alternatives deriding men from as far back as 2017. 

Some Nigerians on social media platforms have, however, picked up on the community guidelines which restrict them from venting their frustrations about men.

“Lmaooooooo so if you type “men are scum” on Instagram they will remove the comment for you 😂😂😂😂,” a Twitter user commented on Sunday morning. 

The #MeToo movement had encouraged women to take to social media and express their frustration and disappointment with men. Those posts are, however, being taken down and the posters banned from the platform for periods ranging from one to seven days.

In 2017, New York-based standup comic Marcia Belsky was banned in October for 30 days from Facebook for posting “men are scum” as a comment on her friend Nicole Silverberg’s photo album detailing the abuse.

The Daily Beast reported on how a private Facebook group of about 500 female comedians protested against the moderation guidelines, posting derivatives of “men are scum” at once. Nearly every woman who took part in the protest got their posts taken down and their accounts banned by Facebook.

Facebook says that threats and hate speech directed towards a protected group violate its community standards and therefore are removed. The social network told the Daily Beast at the time the phrase ‘men are scum’ was considered a threat and would be removed.

At the time, a Facebook spokesperson told The Guardian; “We understand how important it is for victims of harassment to be able to share their stories and for people to express anger and opinions about harassment — we allow those discussions on Facebook. We draw the line when people attack others simply on the basis of their gender.”