I am the mentor of a young black entrepreneur, RM, who has had his personal and business social media accounts removed by Meta, which owns Instagram. There was no notice, no option to appeal and, from my understanding, no just cause. He had built up two successful businesses in clothing design and music events.
Six days before the ban, he had sold 1,500 tickets for an electronic dance event in London. Instagram, rather than a website, is the platform for his work. However, he was suddenly informed that his content did not abide by Meta’s community guidelines on violence and incitement.
His business account, which had 5,700 followers, and his personal account, with almost 4,000 contacts, were deleted. These represent his entire social and professional network, as he has no alternative contact book. He has not been allowed to retrieve this data. The IP addresses on his devices have been banned, so he can’t open new accounts.
I have been following his work, and have not seen anything violent, save for toy weapons in one promo video. This man’s life has been damaged by what appears to be an algorithm.
RP, London
The essential role of social media platforms in young people’s social and professional lives is baffling to older generations used to websites and contact books.
When I contacted 21-year-old RM, he told me fellow students had also lost burgeoning businesses when their accounts were summarily closed by Meta for breaching unspecified rules.
“For my generation, an Instagram profile can be not only a sole source of income but an identity, and the severance of mine has been difficult to recover from,” he says. “I received no warning that I was violating any guidelines, and this decision has cost me thousands of pounds in lost sales, which, as I come from an inner city, single-parent household, is catastrophic.”
RM vehemently denies posting content that could count as violence or incitement. I’m unable to see for myself, since the accounts have been deleted.
Instead, I read an interview with RM on a music website that gives a hint of the cyberpunk rave scene in which he works. It seems the names of some bands and songs could, indeed, get an algorithm exercised.
The words drugs, sex and kill are prevalent, as they are across some music genres. We will never know what specific line, or footage, led to RM’s defenestration because Meta refused to tell RM or me, citing “confidentiality”.
It also refused to comment on the record, but a press officer did call to tell me that, because of “breaches” of its guidelines, it will not be reinstating the accounts, or letting RM retrieve his contacts. There is no right of appeal.
Meta, as a commercial company, can choose who its customers are, and has a duty to remove harmful content, but its role as judge, jury and executioner is troubling given the impact of its decisions.
RM could make a subject access request to Meta to see the information held about him. That won’t reinstate the accounts but may enable him to understand his “offence”. If Meta refuses to comply, he can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
He has bought a laptop to open new accounts and start rebuilding. I advise him (and everyone else) to back up his contacts and not rely solely on an unaccountable company for all of his administration.
Meta is now being accused of mass bans by algorithm of Facebook and Instagram users, and a petition demanding human intervention on Change.org has garnered more than 25,000 signatures.
Locked out of Facebook
EM of West Sussex hit a digital brick wall after she was locked out of her Facebook account when a hacker gained access and changed the password, email address and phone number. She says Facebook’s automated system blithely sent instructions on how to restore access to the hacker’s email when she asked what she should do. The hacker later changed the account from private to public, revealing years of personal information.
When EM asked Facebook to intervene, it permanently closed the new account she had set up. “It makes it impossible to get hold of anyone to speak to, by email, chat or phone,” she says. “The unexpected positive is that after feeling like my arms had been cut off, I am enjoying the absence of Facebook noise in my life!”
Meta did not respond to requests for a comment.