Florence Pugh has questioned whether Instagram is restricting her after the actress spoke out about allegations that a former Cornell University student was sexually assaulted by members of the Chi Phi fraternity.
The 30-year-old star said her Instagram post about the case had been partially taken down, with some followers reportedly unable to view the full statement or swipe through its slides.
Pugh, who posted her lengthy statement on Sunday, 27 September, subsequently challenged the platform over the apparent restriction, asking: 'Why is that? Has it been taken down for others? Am I being censored for talking about rape?'
The actress later said: 'Yep. It's been partially taken down. Some people can only see the trigger warning and some people can't swipe.'
She added: 'Great! Another lovely lesson to teach people that if you speak up about it, we will silence you! Good job I saved it. I'll give it another go.'
It remains unclear why Instagram appeared to restrict the post. Pugh's claims about the restriction have not been independently confirmed by the platform, and Instagram has not publicly explained the apparent issue in the reporting available.
Florence Pugh calls out Instagram: “Am I being censored for talking about rape?”
by u/LunaLore_ in Fauxmoi
Florence Pugh Speaks Out on Alleged Cornell Assault
Pugh's intervention came after a former Cornell University student filed a civil lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court on 14 September, alleging that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, alleges that the assault took place at the fraternity's house in Ithaca, New York.
No criminal charges have been filed against the seven defendants in connection with the allegations, and the allegations contained in the civil lawsuit have not been proven in court.
An attorney for one of the defendants has disputed the allegations against his client.
Pugh said she felt 'uneasy and sick and anxious' after reading about the case and called on men to speak out against sexual violence.
'This is really the moment where we need our men to be as horrified and as sickened as us,' she wrote.
She continued: 'You need to be leading conversations about how we change the allowance and complicity of this behaviour as much as we are. How can you expect us to trust that it's "not all men" when in moments like this, many of you stay quiet?'
Pugh also criticised institutions for what she described as failing to protect women, writing: 'Colleges/schools/universities repeatedly fail women around the world.'
Cornell has said its Office of Civil Rights and Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards investigated and adjudicated the allegations in accordance with university policies.
The university has also said the Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains barred from campus, while federal privacy law prevents it from disclosing specific information about individual students.
Pugh Questions Instagram Restriction
After attempting to repost her statement, Pugh said Instagram continued to restrict its reach.
'I just tried posting it again and it's blocking me from reaching people,' she wrote. 'Instagram, at least we can see what side you're on. Don't protect rapists. It's pathetic behaviour.'
The apparent restriction has since prompted debate among users on Reddit's r/Fauxmoi community.
One commenter argued that Instagram is a private corporation and can determine what appears on its platform. Another rejected the restriction, writing that the platform had 'no right to censor'.
A third commenter criticised what they saw as a contradiction between encouraging women to speak about sexual violence and restricting such discussions, writing that platforms effectively said 'speak up' until women actually did so, before imposing what they described as a 'gag order'.
The comments illustrate the competing views surrounding the incident, but do not establish why Instagram restricted Pugh's post.
For now, it remains unclear whether the apparent restriction resulted from Instagram's content moderation systems, a sensitive content warning, a technical issue or another platform decision.
Pugh's question therefore remains unanswered: was she censored for speaking about rape, or was the restriction the result of another Instagram process?
