More Facebook, Instagram accounts falsely linked to predatory behavior restored by 7 On Your Side
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Last month, 7 On Your Side helped several Facebook and Instagram users who reached out when their accounts were mistakenly banned during a teen safety push.
More viewers reached out, and 7 On Your Side sent the social media platform back 70 handles for review. Within a few days, those viewers were emailing us back to say thanks.
RELATED: 7 On Your Side helps restore Facebook, Instagram accounts erroneously linked to predatory behavior
Mom Jessica Arena's Instagram account is a tribute to her dogs and baby. Whether watching the rain, sharing toys or just spending time together, they are inseparable. So Jessica was stunned when Meta banned the profile.
"For child sexual exploitation, which was extremely shocking to me, because I have no idea where that came from," said Arena.
MORE: 7 On Your Side helps restore Facebook, Instagram accounts erroneously linked to predatory behavior
Neither does Tina Peterson. Her Instagram account is dedicated to her design work. She also linked her teenage son's account to her profile to protect his safety online.
Her accounts were banned as well, for the same reason. "It was nothing but cycling videos and his ski racing videos," said Peterson.
Peterson appealed. "But within less than 20 or 30 minutes it was permanently banned," she said.
MORE: Meta launches new teen safety features, removes 635,000 accounts that sexualize children
7 On Your Side first looked into the issue in August. Meta deleted 600,000 accounts linked to predatory behavior in a teen safety push.
At the time, we inquired about Charles Fossett-Lee's account and Diego Urbina's account. Both given the same reason for the ban, child sexual exploitation, and both had their accounts restored after 7 On Your Side inquired.
In an emailed statement at the time, a spokesperson wrote, "We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we've made a mistake."
The Meta spokesperson also said their teams reviewed the accounts that were flagged and found they had been removed in error.
Meta would not say how or why.
VIDEO: Facebook wouldn't remove hacker from Bay Area woman's account -- until she paid Meta for help
David Graunke is founder and CEO of Safetykit, an AI platform for rule enforcement and content moderation with clients like Eventbrite and Substack.
"This is what everyone in this role, so anyone that works in trust and safety or content moderation, is thinking about. How do we find the bad guys without hurting the good guys?" said Graunke.
He says their accuracy is around 95%, and, while Meta is not a Safetykit client, he understands what the social media giant is up against.
"Human accuracy is typically a lot lower than what you would expect. It's about 80%. That's because humans, as intelligent as they are, have a difficult time enforcing policies consistently over and over and over again," said Graunke.
Meta previously told 7 On Your Side it uses a combination of people and technology to find and remove accounts that break their rules.
Despite the recent crackdown, Meta also said it had not seen evidence of a significant increase in incorrect enforcement of its rules.
Meta agreed to review approximately 70 handles from viewers who contacted us.
"You were kind of my last line of hope," said Arena.
ABC7 News emailed the list on August 12, and, within two days, we started hearing back from viewers.
"I was very happy," said Peterson. "Well you absolutely got my accounts back because there was no way I could talk to anybody."
VIDEO: Bay Area man lost his wife, then got scammed. Now Facebook won't stop the hacker
Arena's account was also restored. "I am probably just eternally grateful that you guys were able to help," she said.
On August 15, the Meta spokesperson told 7 On Your Side teams were in the process of going through the list of approximately 70 handles.
ABC7 News reached out to Meta four times since then, including this week, but we have not yet heard back, so we don't know exactly how many accounts of the 70 handles we shared with Meta have been restored.
We're still receiving tons of emails from people across the country, asking for help. While we're not able to help everyone, Meta encourages people to appeal the decision if they believe their profile was banned by mistake.
Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.
7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response.
