A huge wave of bans and suspensions on Instagram has users flooding social media in protest. As reported by News, the number of users being banned on the photo and video sharing app has increased significantly in recent weeks, as evidenced by comments on X, posts on the Instagram subreddit, and a Change.org petition with over 4,000 signatures.
Why Instagram suddenly decided to ban thousands of users is unclear, but many users believe that Meta’s decision to use AI for moderation is to blame.
Why is Instagram’s banning users?
“Meta’s AI moderation system is disabling thousands of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounts without cause,” the creators of the Change.org petition claim in their overview. “Users are being locked out of their personal memories, messages, and business profiles—often with no explanation, and no functional way to appeal. We’re calling on Meta to fix its broken systems and treat its users with respect and fairness.”
As many banned Instagram users have noted, it’s impossible to reach Instagram’s support team unless you pay for a Meta Verified subscription. Whether these bans are accidental or not, those who are paying Meta $14.99 per month (or more) are the only ones with access to Meta Verified Support. Everyone else is stuck complaining on Reddit.
“Out of no where, I went into Facebook and it logged me out,” revealed one user, “then I opened IG and I was presented with a page that said I had 180 days to appeal my account suspension over community guideline violations that are clearly not true.”
“We need to bring this issue to the court… so stressed,” another user responded.
The good news is that some users who were banned are seeing their accounts reinstated. One user explained that their account was banned last week. After emailing [email protected] and [email protected], they got their account back over the weekend. It is unclear if the outreach had any impact on the reinstatement.
We’re still waiting for official word from Meta, but according to an X post from Korean National Assembly member Minhee Choi, Meta Korea shared the following information:
Meta is currently conducting a global crackdown on activities related to child and youth pornography on social media platforms, including Instagram. During this process, they have acknowledged that some user accounts are being excessively blocked and are being restored sequentially, while they are working to identify specific issues.
Presumably, Meta will continue to restore any accounts that were banned without cause in the coming days and weeks. Whether or not AI will continue to play a role in moderation remains to be seen after such a firestorm over these bans in recent weeks.
