Philly’s popular ‘No Gun Zone’ Instagram page has been suspended and could be permanently banned

On the heels of celebrating its 10th year sharing community news and information about crime in Philadelphia, the popular Instagram page “No Gun Zone” has been suspended and is at risk of being permanently banned from the platform.

The page, which had acquired more than 352,000 followers before it was shut down Aug. 21, allegedly violated Instagram’s community guidelines 10 times in the last year for various reasons, said Terence Harrell, founder and manager of the account. Harrell said he has not been able to appeal the decision, and reached out to Instagram officials via email but hasn’t heard back.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, did not respond to questions about the suspension.

Harrell created No Gun Zone in 2014 to be a social media-based source of news and information “for the urban communities of Philadelphia and abroad,” he said. The account became known for offering an unfiltered look at life in sections of Philadelphia affected by violence, sharing everything from photos of a bloody crime scene taken by a neighbor to a family’s request for donations to fund a funeral for their loved one.

The page, at times, came under fire for posting graphic content and unverified information submitted by anonymous users, and some feel there’s not enough transparency around how the page is funded and operated.

Still, it was a key source of information for thousands of Philadelphians, particularly Black residents. People often reached out to and shared information with Harrell — like witness videos of police-involved shootings — before agreeing to share them with legacy news organizations. He received upward of 50 to 100 submissions and requests from community members per day, he said, and runs the account on his own.

Earlier this year, Harrell was honored with citations from City Council and Councilmembers Cindy Bass and Jamie Gauthier for his “everyday service to the community.”

» READ MORE: At 15, she started an Instagram page to honor Philly’s gun violence victims. Then, her brother became one.

“No Gun Zone isn’t everybody’s cup of tea,” Harrell said. “I tell people, as harsh as it may seem, No Gun Zone wasn’t created for positivity. More so for reality.”

In addition to crime news, Harrell also highlighted small businesses, celebrated young people accepted into college, and shared reports about missing persons. If someone found a driver’s license on the sidewalk or recovered a stolen car, it was in No Gun Zone. His posts regularly reunited lost items with their rightful owners and people with their families.

In the meantime, he’s running a backup account called “AllThingzPhilly.”

“No Gun Zone shares things that don’t always make it to the news,” said Darrien Johnson, founder of Community Curator, a social impact consultancy firm. “It’s coming from real people.”

Taneesha Brodie said that after her son, Quenzell Bradley-Brown, was shot and killed in September 2022, she reached out to television news stations begging to tell his story. No Gun Zone, she said, was the first to respond, and the post about her son helped her connect with resources and other grieving mothers in the city. Harrell even came to the two-year anniversary vigil of her son’s death earlier this month.

“Without that page, Quenzell’s name never would have been spoken,” she said. “He is our news.”

Harrell said the page had been suspended before, including for about six weeks in 2019 and three weeks in 2022. He said he can’t recall which posts specifically triggered those suspensions, but in both instances, he filed a written appeal and got the page back.

This time, he said, he hasn’t been able to appeal the suspension.

Among the 10 violating posts, he said, was a photo of an ID card that a follower had found, which he posted without blurring the person’s personal information, something Instagram said was a safety risk. In another, he shared a video of a woman chasing after a man after he ejaculated on her leg inside a Dollar Store in South Philadelphia. (The man was later arrested.) Harrell said he blurred out the graphic parts of the video, but it was flagged for bullying and harassment.

An additional post, he said, featured a woman who sent in photos of her injuries after a domestic assault, asking for resources and help. He didn’t notice, he said, that one of the photos showed a part of her breast, and it was reported to Instagram for nudity. Harrell acknowledged he should have looked at the photos more carefully and removed it once it was flagged by commenters.

Melissa Simpson, a 33-year-old journalist and photographer, said that while she appreciated No Gun Zone’s relationship with the community, she is happy it was shut down. The funding, operations, and ethics behind the page aren’t clear, she said, and sometimes the comments were hateful and posts homophobic.

“It’s not a news outlet, even though it might feel like one,” she said, noting that legacy outlets have publishing standards and ethics rules they must abide by.

“I don’t wholeheartedly trust No Gun Zone,” she said. “I think how the page shares community-generated news is awesome, but there’s not enough transparency for me and not enough media literacy for the people engaging with the content.”

Harrell said the page is a source of income, largely from businesses paying to be featured and advertised. He works other jobs, he said, but declined to go into detail on them.

He tries to maintain some level of privacy for his safety, and doesn’t often show his face on the page. Still, he will show up at marches against gun violence and community events.

He said this is what sets him apart from the other social media pages that report on Philly crime, like “911 Philly” and “Philly Crime Update.” It’s not known who runs those accounts, he said, calling them “ghosts in our community.”

“The difference is, Terence Harrell is a real person,” he said. “You can go to No Gun Zone and read a post about a GoFundMe of a homicide victim, and not just the atrocity for clicks and likes.”

Buddha Thomas, who runs the Frankford mentorship group Power Circle Mentors, said the page is a critical way for organizations like his to connect with young people who are glued to their phones and social media.

He said sometimes comments under posts are unruly and hurtful to victims, but the reach and overall impact of the page are important to keep people informed.

“His page needs to be back up as soon as possible,” Thomas said. “It’s the streets’ news.”