Banned hashtags are A THING on Instagram. And sometimes, the ones on the list are a surprise, like #valentinesday.
First, what is a banned hashtag?
They are hashtags that Meta deems inappropriate, against community guidelines, or connected to so many reported posts that they no longer allow their use. As you can imagine, Valentine’s Day could be associated with some, err, eye-opening posts.
While #valentinesday has been on the list for years, the list does ebb and flow. Sometimes, a hashtag is there for a short period of time, and sometimes, it is permanent.
So, what happens when you use a banned hashtag?
Nothing happens that you can immediately see. No notification says you used a banned hashtag, and Instagram still allows you to make the post. But once you start watching the insights of your post (for those of you using business accounts), you will notice that your distribution is super low and that the post reached few to no people who weren’t already following you.
When a post is connected to a banned hashtag, Instagram’s algorithm suppresses it from distribution outside your immediate network (even then, it’s low). Of course, this goes against your goal of creating a post to reach your audience and extend outside of it to new people. That is, after all, what a hashtag is designed to do – make your post more findable to people.
How do you know if you used a banned hashtag?
Not all banned hashtags are obvious. For example, on the 2025 list, you’ll find #adulting #besties #customers #desk #parties #thought, and, yes, even #mileycyrus made the list.
When you search hashtags on Instagram, they WILL still show up. In fact, as of writing this, I can see 32.6 million posts have included the hashtag #valentinesday. This is a reminder that just because you see a hashtag’s popularity, it doesn’t mean that it’s a hashtag that is not banned.
To help you avoid accidentally using a banned hashtag, get the list of 2025 banned hashtags (as of January). We recommend that you and your social media helpers refer to it when choosing hashtags!
