Dear Outlook supporters,
On March 5 at 6 a.m., we published my editorial announcing our ban from Instagram. You responded by amplifying our frustration, spreading the word, and standing with us against Meta’s censorship.
At 3 a.m. on March 6, an Outlook editor discovered our Instagram account had been restored. Shortly after, Meta sent this message:
“You’re back on Instagram, presoutlook. We reviewed your account and found that the activity on it does follow our Community Standards… We’re sorry we got this wrong.”
We believe this reversal happened because of you — because we spoke out together, and someone at Meta listened.
Now comes the bigger question: Do we return?
The heart of my editorial still stands. Someone didn’t like our content, reported us, and Instagram shut us down without warning, without human review, and without recourse. Meta continues to prioritize corporate interests, limit user control, relax hate speech policies, roll back fact-checking and end DEI initiatives.
So, we’re holding firm. We will not return to Instagram. Our account will remain active only to protect our handle and help people find us elsewhere. Instead, we’ll invest in platforms like Bluesky and Flashes, which prioritize user communities over corporate algorithms.
For now, we’ll stay on Facebook — not because it’s free from these concerns, but because our 16,000+ followers rely on it as a space for Presbyterian connection. Still, we recognize Facebook’s algorithm works against news organizations like ours.
As the only independent multimedia publisher serving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we remain committed to publishing content that values the diversity of God’s creation, the equity of God’s justice, and the inclusion of Christ’s welcome. It is also our mission to make Presbyterian theology more digitally discoverable, which means, to a certain extent, playing with the tools set up in the sandbox. We will continue to wrestle with these ethical tensions, remaining open to the call for faithful change.
We’ll also keep listening — for God’s wisdom, for the Spirit’s creative guidance, for the needs of our community and the world.
Thank you for standing with us. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for your support.
