Meta Bans Instagram User for Posting Video of her Dogs That Violated ‘Nudity’ Rules
An Instagram user was banned for posting a video of her dogs that Meta says breached community standards on “child sexual exploitation” and “nudity.”
On June 28, Rochelle Marinato, owner of Pilates World Australia in Gold Coast, Australia, shared an innocent video of her three dogs looking out of a window on her personal Instagram account.
However, according to a report by Sky News Australia, on the same day, Marinato received an email from Meta informing her that her Instagram account had been suspended. The company says her video violated community guidelines on “child sexual exploitation, abuse, and nudity.”
In the email notifying Marinato of the account suspension, Meta writes: “We reviewed your account and found that it still doesn’t follow our Community Standards on account integrity… No one can see or find your account, and you can’t use it. All your information will be permanently deleted.”
Not only was her personal account suspended, but her business account for Pilates World was also banned due to its association. Sky News Australia reports that Marinato appealed the suspension, but it was assessed by Meta AI and denied before both were permanently disabled.
Marinato tells the news outlet she had spent 12 years building her brand, a retailer of high-quality Pilates reformers and fitness equipment. But after the ban, Pilates World disappeared from Instagram’s search, couldn’t be tagged, and was no longer visible to customers — leading to a 75% drop in sales.
Her solicitor sent letters to Meta’s offices in both California and Sydney, but has yet to receive a response. As a last resort, Marinato reportedly turned to a third party in an attempt to recover the account.
“We did pay them, and I thought it was probably a scam, but at that point, I was so desperate, business was being impacted so significantly that I was willing to take the risk, and it worked, and we got our accounts back,” Marinato tells Sky News Australia.
Although her Instagram accounts have since been restored, Marinato estimates the wrongful ban cost her $50,000 and damaged her brand’s reputation.
The case comes as a petition with over 30,000 signatures calls on Meta to stop wrongful account bans and provide access to human support. Meanwhile, a multi-country class action lawsuit has reportedly been launched, led by photographer Chris Moore and a U.S. law firm.
PetaPixel previously reported on how Facebook and Instagram users are suing Meta in small claims court to recover their lost accounts due to the social media giant’s lack of customer service help. Furthermore, these last-ditch attempts in small claim courts appear to be working for some of them.
