Instagram dumps the Taylors, except Swift

Hi everyone, it's Aisha in San Francisco. Instagram’s customer service is great for Taylor Swift. For other Taylors? Not so much. But first… [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi everyone, it's Aisha in San Francisco. Instagram’s customer service is great for Taylor Swift. For other Taylors? Not so much. But first… Three things you need to know today: • AI startup Cohere is [raising another round]( of funding • Baidu won approval for its [generative AI models]( • The SEC faces a setback in the [latest crypto rulingÂ]( A swift, mysterious blocking Last Tuesday, more than a dozen Instagram accounts named Taylor, or using account names that displayed support for Taylor Swift, suddenly found themselves blocked from accessing them. The Taylors, failing to find any help through Instagram customer service, immediately began posting about the situation on X, hoping that an Instagram employee would see and respond. Many Taylors assumed the restrictions were sparked out of the need for some protection of Swift — maybe culling her impersonators while she’s on her epic [Eras Tour](. They hypothesized she was the only Taylor who would get this level of service from Instagram. A representative for the star didn’t comment. But Instagram has long gone above and beyond for its celebrity users. “This afternoon, hundreds of people named Taylor (myself included) had their Instagram accounts disabled for a violation of community guidelines- simply because our profiles had our names listed,” one affected Taylor, Taylor Camp, told Bloomberg via email. Even some accounts that added the phrase “Taylor’s version” to their Instagram handle — a reference to her re-recorded tracks — had their accounts restricted. “if you're a swiftie with your instagram display name set as "[name] (taylor's version)" CHANGE IT,” [warned]( one Taylor on X. “The ig account that i've had for over 10 yrs was disabled today without warning for seemingly no reason, and I believe this is why.” Taylors sounding the alarm about their blocking had X display names including Taylor, Tay, Taylor Land and Taylor-Nicole Limas. “Hey @instagram can you please give us Taylor’s our accounts back??” one[wrote](, later saying she was a fan of Swift. Instagram confirmed that several of the accounts were disabled in error for violating the company’s policy on authentic accounts, and have since been restored. The company did not say how many accounts were impacted or whether it was in relation to the pop star. But regular people don’t usually get full transparency on what’s happening to their accounts and why. For people who are big celebrities, Instagram can go overboard on its protections, while leaving everyday users to fend for themselves. One solution touted by [Meta Platforms Inc.](bbg://securities/meta), Instagram’s owner, is to [pay for the privilege]( of being listened to. For $14.99 a month, users can get Meta Verified, a new tool that promises protection from impersonation. Instagram has long given white-glove treatment to its biggest stars, training them on the app’s newest tools and answering to their specific needs. Swift, specifically, was one of the first stars to get to use Instagram Stories, the 24-hour disappearing posts, when it came out in 2016. She also, while facing harassment in the form of snake emoji the next year, inspired Instagram’s keyword blocking tool, according to the book No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram. Blocking, restricting or limiting access to users’ accounts can be particularly devastating for those who are trying to build up careers or businesses via Instagram. And errors may occur more often, with human resolution rarer, as Meta relies increasingly on artificial intelligence to solve its platform’s customer issues. Unless calling out for help publicly on another platform actually works, users may be stuck with automated responses. —[Aisha Counts](mailto:acounts3@bloomberg.net) The big story Apple is testing using 3D printing to make some of its upcoming smartwatches, a major change to how the company [manufactures]( products. The change could use up less material, as Apple wouldn’t need to cut large slabs of metal into the product’s shape. One to watch [Watch the Bloomberg Technology TV interview]( with Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung ahead of the company’s acquisition of TSI Semiconductors. Get fully charged Salesforce [beat revenue expectations]( and raised its outlook for the year, easing investor concerns about the company’s growth. CNN [named Mark Thompson its next CEO](. The former New York Times leader starts October 9th. Nvidia’s partners are [getting a revenue boost too](. AI server maker Quanta expects sales to double next year. 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