I’ve even changed my password to make sure nothing else is using my account

Same, I changed my password around 5-6 times but the algorithm kept flagging my account.

Maybe it’s possible your ban had to do with your pattern of use of the platform; like if you were messaging a bunch of people asking for permission to share their photos, the algorithm may have taken issue with the similarity, spread and frequency of your requests without considering their content or purpose

I think that this along with using a VPN and an IG downloader is likely what's setting the algorithm off. Still, I didn't break any rules. Afaik there are no rules explicitly banning the use of VPNs and IG downloaders, nor are there any rules prohibiting messaging people.

It's just an FYI.

People should know about IG's opaque and unfair appeals process.

While this is not strictly related to this sub, it is relevant because I use my IG account to get content for this community.

Lastly, IG's opaque & unfair appeals process should be a concern for everyone—no organization should be able to suspend or delete anyone's account without giving specific reasons for doing so and the accused party should be given the opportunity to defend themselves, instead of only being given the choice of pressing a button.

barring embedded image metadata (or similar) its very strange that a personal account on Instagram would be associated with moderation of this community

Well, I think that my usage of a VPN might have prompted them to flag my account but I stopped using it this past week. Also I was using an IG Downloader to get the pics so maybe that’s why they suspended my account (note: I wasn’t stealing content because I only post pics/clips of women who have given me their permission).

there are other mechanisms to browse profiles and grab images from insta that are anonymous.

I know but I also have to communicate with them when I’m not sure whether I should post a certain pic or not (maybe there are other people in it or maybe they would feel uncomfortable having that particular pic posted here, etc.)

this community brings attention to talented female martial artists that lemmy users might otherwise not be exposed to. a net positive in my mind.

Thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated.

In case anyone here disagrees with the content that's posted on c/kickasswomen, I only post pics/clips of women who have given me their consent; I don't steal anyone's content and post it against their will.

those two beefcakes

We don't use language like that here.

Lastly, I don't know how that event works.

I disabled hardware acceleration and VLC is able to play mp4 files again; however, is there a way to turn on hardware acceleration without getting these errors?

Update:

Changing “Hardware-accelerated decoding” to “VA-API video decoder” fixed the issue. Now VLC is able to play mp4 files with hardware acceleration without any issues.

If nsfw posts start showing up here, people like me will block the sub

Out of curiosity, why?

I like 'em.

like Debian Stable has packages from this century

You can set up Debian 12 to use Flatpak. I use it and it works well.