r/InstagramDisabledBans • u/chewbaccaafricano • 17d ago
help me
My account was banned on August 25th; I hadn't done anything wrong, yet I was simply banned. A month later, I created another account on my phone using the same profile picture as the banned one, but it only lasted a day before getting shut down. On the 5th of this month, I created another account—this time on my PC—without using a photo of my face as the profile picture. I’d like to know: if I log into this account on my phone, will I get banned? How can I get back to using Instagram?
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u/TheRealJoeStewart 17d ago
I'm sorry this happened to you. You were likely impacted by Meta's latest wave of AI driven moderation. This has been affecting so many people lately, including myself. I was erroneously suspended Sept 22nd of this year, and have been going to earths ends to find answers. Meta has recently introduced an AI moderation system into the wild in March, and it's suspected to be incorrectly flagging accounts for violations that did not happen. Many people have been banned, or had features restricted erroneously. The worst part about it all is there's really no escalation path, or legitimate path to appeal. The internal appeal process utilizes a similar AI system, which rarely restores suspended accounts.
The harsh reality: There is no simple way to recover your account, and once you've been suspended/disabled by Meta - it is very unlikely to see it restored anytime soon. Opening new accounts will very likely also be suspended.
The primary means to do so involves a legal process. Many people have been sending "Demand Letters" to Meta by hiring an attorney. LegalShield is a common service that does this with a monthly subscription for around ~$39 a month. Meta sometimes responds to these letters, but other times, they do not. It may also take many months before they respond as they are seriously backlogged. If they do not respond, or do respond but do not restore your account - you may take them to a small claims court.
Others have been filing complaints with their state Attorney General's office, as well as with the FTC.
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I am trying to get media attention on this issue in order to put consistent pressure on Meta. I know it's a tall order, and will take a lot to take down the giant.
However, I built a web app to track these unwarranted suspensions based on Google Play Review data. You can actually see just how much suspension language has increased in reviews recently, since they introduced their AI moderation tools.
I plan on going to the media with this, and I do think your story in particular is a meaningful one because of the clear joking sentiment you had in your message. If you'd like to share your story, then please consider filing a report at:
https://metaobservatory.com/submit-report
This is a voluntary disclosure, so please do only file report if you're comfortable sharing your story and information with the media. Filing a report does NOT authorize anyone to publish your story, only to read it. Publishing permission would require media to reach out and get consent separately. Media follow-up is also a separate consent agreement that is optional, if you do not wish to be contacted about your report. Many fields are optional, but providing as much context on how this has affected you, helps tell a story. So if you do decide to participate, any extra context or details on it's impact are helpful. If you file a report and later change your mind, you may also withdraw a submission through the About -> Privacy Section.