Gun safety instructor says Facebook, Instagram are unfairly shadow-banning him. He's not alone

When Bryan Mumford started his concealed carry training business a decade ago, he gained clients the old-fashioned way — visiting businesses and trade shows, shaking hands and handing out cards.

But PDX Arsenal really took off online when Mumford posted class openings on Facebook and Instagram. Community Facebook groups in Oregon, particularly those with a public safety focus, drove massive traffic to his page.

"I'd get 150 to 200 comments and 300 likes on our social media posts, which generated a lot of revenue for the company," he said.

Recently, though, Meta's crackdown on firearm-related content has turned those platforms into "a dead avenue." The same kind of posts net single-digit likes. Mumford feels invisible online.

"We're kind of having to take it back to where we started," he said.

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Meta, the parent company that owns Facebook, Instagram and other social media apps, has numerous rules that apply to "restricted goods and services" like drugs, alcohol, gambling and weapons. Meta's guidelines clearly state that content that "attempts to buy, sell, or trade, firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements" is not allowed except when posted by a page representing "legitimate brick-and-mortar entities."

But Mumford doesn't sell guns. He teaches firearm safety classes and helps students apply for concealed handgun licenses. So he has no idea why photos and videos he posts showing guns keep getting flagged as violating the policy, accompanied by restrictions on his accounts' visibility.

"They're still flagging content that has nothing to do with anything being transferred or sold," he said. "I have appealed several decisions to no avail. I feel like it falls on deaf ears."

Meta did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions about the restrictions.

Clampdown confusing even for ‘legitimate brick-and-mortar’ stores

The gun market used to be booming on Facebook and Instagram. Amid pressure from activists, government agencies and even then-President Barack Obama, the social media giant banned private gun sales on its platforms in 2016.

Many physical gun stores still have a presence on Meta platforms, and seem like they should be allowed to post more freely given the "brick-and-mortar" exception in Meta's guidelines.

North Idaho Arms owner Bryan Zielinski said it's not that simple, though.

"The rules are ever-changing" and "kind of screwy," he told Fox News Digital. "You can’t post anything that would be construed as an offer of sale."

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When he posts pictures of the guns available at his store, Zielinski said he has to make sure there are no price tags visible in the background or anything else hinting at a sale. In the captions, he said he has to avoid words like "in stock" or "available now."

Still, Meta's algorithm is strong, he said, and the appeals process virtually nonexistent.

Zielinski said he has one strike left before his account gets taken down. He has backup pages ready to roll, but says the effect would still be devastating — contacts, information and photos all gone in the blink of an eye.

"They have done a really good job in the last couple of years of showing their true colors," Zielinski said of Meta. "They are not for freedom of speech, and they are for censoring any kind of information that they are not comfortable with."

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The social media giant also came under fire over the summer when critics accused it of "shadow-banning" Olympic and Paralympic athletes who compete in shooting sports.

McKenna Geer, a Team USA Paralympic shooter, posted pictures on Instagram with her air rifle ahead of the Paris Games. Meta restricted her account, hampering the athlete's ability to engage with fans and "connect with potential sponsors," Geer wrote in an August post.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in early September over the accusations, asking for more information about the decision to "de-platform" Geer and other athletes.

"This censorship seems specifically targeted at shooting sports, as no other sport faces the same online discrimination," Blackburn wrote in a statement. "Never mind the fact that many of these athletes use their platforms to advocate for firearm safety and responsible gun ownership, or that shooting is one of the few sports that can unite athletes across the boundaries of age and ability. This is simply an effort by Meta to virtue signal to the world and trample on these athletes’ freedom of expression."

Despite giving a Sept. 17 deadline, a spokesperson for Blackburn told Fox News Digital they have still not received a response.

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While Mumford's firearm safety business and Zielinski's legitimate gun store are being targeted, shadowy sellers are still peddling firearms and illegal accessories on Meta platforms, according to a report last month from the Tech Transparency Project. And their ads are getting through the tech giant's walls.

"The company approved and profited from hundreds of ads for guns and gun accessories that violate its own policies," the report reads in part. 

In late October, Mumford wrote to his followers — or at least, the ones who can still see his posts — that the "insane level of censorship" on Meta platforms was pushing him to X where he found "a lot more freedom."

And he’s going boots on the ground again, meeting with businesses and finding new customers. Just like the old days.