No explanation, nothing. Not a word. On her Instagram, the now very popular Big Bertha – drag queen and notable candidate from the first season of Drag Race France saw her audience drop on her Instagram page. “I think I am at the end of this dictatorship of our visibility,” she warned in a publication dated March 17. A cry from the heart which is accompanied by several “red flags” notified in a very laconic manner by the platform. Some content would have been deleted from his profile, others demoted. His profile is no longer visible in the search bar.
This phenomenon seems to have occurred, according to her, after her time on the Star Academy set last December. “The show gave me even wider visibility. Who says wider visibility… says population who doesn’t necessarily want to see drag queens. Worse, who doesn’t understand why a drag queen has access to such a program. » Reactions which could result in massive reports to Meta. If Big Bertha is used to these malicious acts after each appearance on a mainstream show, the reports are more difficult to manage. “What is catastrophic is that these platforms are our means of communication. It’s our art. »
Heavy losses
Indeed, in addition to poor referencing, the phenomenon has an impact on the income of drag queens, already invisible for years, then propelled by the show Drag Race France and the popularity of shows like Madame Arthur. Makeup and costume brands now use their images… becoming a significant source of income, but with compensation. “On Instagram, I have to report to my agency on my engagement rates,” says Big Bertha, who has noticed “huge losses on the affected accounts” in recent weeks.
Faced with this observation, the artist decided to no longer send reports to brands. “They will see that I have at least 85% of accounts affected, that will no longer interest them.” His agency, Pop Model, also deplores it. “Obviously, that distorts all the statistics. It can be very scary for brands,” regrets Maxime Bregerie, his agent.
The Best Pastry Chef Reported as a “Sex Act”
On the phone, a certain emotion can be heard in La Big Bertha’s voice. She knows that she is playing big on this invisibility which she considers “voluntary” on the part of Instagram. “I have the impression that we are subjected to a dictatorship where Meta makes us assume this victim position. » His agent, Maxime Bergerie, is more measured. According to him, the platforms are victims of their own functioning. It’s not so much Meta who decides, but its Artificial Intelligence which analyzes the photos. “There is obviously a huge flaw in how photos are analyzed and what can be judged as offensive pornographic content. »
Here, the agent refers to a publication that ignited the powder: a pretty portrait of Big Bertha on a rattan armchair displaying a little nudity. “My art revolves around the body. I always want to show that a fat body can be a beautiful body. It’s certainly an artistic nude photo, but we couldn’t see anything, explains La Big Bertha. It was really with the intention of enhancing it further.” However, Instagram is inflexible and gives it a first veto. “I folded and deleted the post. » But on the reports page, La Big Bertha notices other “flagged” publications. Nine in total. A trailer for Best Pastry Chef of the Stars broadcast on Gulli was even identified as “sexual acts and nudity”.
” It’s very complicated “
At the Pop Model agency, we seek to understand. A first contact was made with Meta, in vain. “It’s very complicated, we move from right to left.” Big Bertha and her agent don’t see many solutions. They know that the problem remains in the minority because not all drag queens are affected in the same way. For her agent, this could be due to the forms of La Big Bertha which would automatically be sexualized. “The problem is that this mechanism also gives reason to opposition speeches,” regrets the queen and her agent, referring here to the numerous accusations of pedophilia targeting – wrongly – drag queens.
Asked about the issue of reporting and invisibility, the Meta group has not responded to our requests to date.