Give Me Back My Sunsets!

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the author's experience of having their Meta/Instagram account suspended and permanently disabled without clear explanation, and the difficulties they faced in trying to appeal the decision.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Account Suspension and Permanent Disabling

1. What happened to the author's Meta/Instagram account?

• The author's Threads account was suddenly suspended, with a notice saying they had 180 days to appeal before the account would be permanently disabled.
• The next day, the author's account was permanently disabled, with a vague explanation about the account being associated with something the author did not want to even type out.
• The author's other connected accounts, such as their Spyglass feed and Facebook account, were also banned.

2. How did the author try to resolve the issue?

• The author immediately appealed the suspension using Meta's appeal process.
• The author also reached out to any contacts they had at Meta/Instagram, from executives on down, but it was the middle of the night in the US so they had to wait for a response.
• After the account was permanently disabled, the author had no other recourse to appeal the decision.

3. What was the author's reaction to the situation?

• The author was "freaking out" and found the experience "terrifying" due to the speed and lack of explanation for the account disabling.
• The author felt there should be better processes in place to appeal such decisions, as they were essentially having their life "erased from the internet" with no recourse.

[02] Resolution and Aftermath

1. How was the issue eventually resolved?

• After calling in favors, the author's accounts were restored around 1am the next day.
• The author received an email from Meta Quest and Instagram saying "We're sorry we got this wrong", but with no further explanation.

2. What were the author's final thoughts on the experience?

• The author appreciated the help in resolving the issue, but felt it should not be so easy to falsely accuse someone of something so serious, with no real way to appeal beyond back-channels.
• The author noted that if this could happen to them, a long-time early Instagram user, it could happen to anyone, and most people would have no way to resolve it.