BALTIMORE (AP) - Instagram has removed four Baltimore-based accounts that were posting pictures of people who the pages said have cooperated with police.
The company said Tuesday that it banned a device connected to two pages and removed the four pages that were posting the pictures along with court or police records showing that the people spoke to investigators, The Baltimore Sun reported. One page that was taken down in recent weeks was asking for money in exchange for taking down information.
“These accounts violate our policies, and we have removed them accordingly,” said Liza Crenshaw, a spokesperson for the company.
One of the accounts had more than 6,300 followers. The identity of the person who ran it is unknown, but they told the newspaper in a direct message that even if the company deletes the page, another will replace it.
And it didn’t take long for a new page to pop up. Another one was created within hours.
The administrator of the new account told the Sun in a direct message: “They can’t ban me” but can “only hope” to “contain me.”
The FBI said the agency is “aware of witness intimidation accounts” but cannot confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. No one has faced criminal charges in connection to the accounts.
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