#How social media censorship ‘silences’ conservative thoughts

For the past eight years, Esther Berg has been posting regularly for her 330,000-plus Instagram followers. Now she’s locked out of her EstherandSasha account.

While the influencer normally covers a range of lighthearted lifestyle issues, on Sept. 14 the registered Republican posted a story comparing Ivanka Trump with Chiara de Blasio — juxtaposing a glam photo of the president’s daughter with a picture of the NYC mayor’s daughter curled up on the subway and baring her body, accompanied by the caption: “On November 3rd, you decide what kind of America you want your daughter growing up in … Vote.”

The next day, Berg, who splits her time between Florida and Long Island, discovered her account was locked. A message from the platform said it had been disabled and to check back in 30 days. An Instagram representative told The Post: “We do not allow people to show intimate images of others without their consent.”

But Berg notes that the same photo of Chiara is still up on other accounts.

“I believe that, although my post . . . may have been in poor taste compared to what I usually post, I didn’t violate any community guidelines,” Berg told The Post. “They censored me for my conservative views.”

Berg, like other right-leaning influencers, is outraged over what she calls a “double standard” targeting pro-Trump voices. “There are multiple hashtags saying ‘KillTrump’ that incite violence. But posting a photo that might have been in poor taste yet doesn’t violate guidelines gets you banned.”

Allum Bokhari’s new book, “#Deleted: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal the Election” (Center Street), delves into social media’s silencing of right-wing voices.

“If you’re going to have the rules, you should enforce them evenly, and that’s not happening. And the reason for that is that the point of the rules is to go after right-wingers,” the Breitbart News senior tech writer told The Post.

“The strategies [social-media platforms] are using to silence people on the right is getting crazier by the day,” said Maggie VandenBerghe, a conservative filmmaker known as @fogcitymidge on Instagram.

In July, VandenBerghe, who has 202,000 Instagram followers, posted a video of Joe Biden with unambiguous jump cuts, showing a series of verbal gaffes. It racked up some 200,000 views before being hit with a disclaimer: “Partly False Information. Reviewed by independent fact-checkers.” Instagram claimed the video was “deceptively edited to make him appear ‘lost.’ ”

VandenBerghe told The Post: “I’ve never manipulated a video in my life. These fact-checkers are spreading disinformation by ­silencing the truth. It’s about controlling what you’re allowed to talk about.”

She added that her fact-checked posts hurt her career and brand. “If there’s a fact-check symbol on it, it won’t be shared . . . it’s a good way of delegitimizing my work.”

The Instagram rep said: “While @fogcitymidge may not have edited the original video, we still applied the label to the video . . . to help others understand that fact-checkers confirmed it was deceptively edited.”

Bokhari writes that shortly after the 2016 election, Facebook, which owns Instagram, ramped up efforts to “ ‘fix’ what had gone wrong [in the election],” adding that meetings had “a clear focus on how to make elections ‘better.’ ”

Last December, Instagram announced the rollout of 45 “third-party fact-checkers who are certified through the nonpartisan International Fact-Checking Network to help identify, review and label false information.”

According to the platform’s rep, “Many Democrats think we aren’t doing enough, while many Republicans think we go too far, and that we censor them. That is why we have established rules that allow both sides to see what we will and won’t allow.”

Former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member Siggy Flicker, who has 430,000 Instagram followers, believes her posts have been hidden, or shadow-banned.

Several of her Instagram posts include disclaimers. One is a video posted on Sept. 23 showing Louisville, Ky., protesters, with Flicker commenting in part: “Who would ever vote for a party that supports this?? Who paid for the U-Haul? Who paid the protesters?”

A warning on the posts reads, “Missing Context: Independent fact-checkers say information in this post can mislead people.” It also says there is “disinformation about Louisville, a U-Haul and George Soros.”

But Flicker said, “I never mentioned ­George Soros’ name!

“These so-called ‘fact-checkers’ allow posts comparing the first lady to dictators to stay up, but silence those on the right who dare to . . . back the president,” Flicker said, citing an August post from the popular @diet_prada account, comparing Melania Trump’s outfit to fascist leaders.

Said the Instagram rep: “Content isn’t fact-checked because others find it offensive.”

Flicker doesn’t buy it. “The minute you put #Trump2020 on a post, you’re a target.”

For Berg, she’ll wait out the month to find out her fate. “They shut me down because I have a loud mouth and making a lot of noise. And it’s weeks before the election,” she said. “There’s censorship going on. They’re silencing conservative voices and picking when the community guidelines are enforced.”

Because she’s not able to post “collaborated” content, “I lose money every day,” Berg said, adding that the small businesses she regularly promotes lose out, too.

“It’s like I never existed. You can’t find me.”