Meta users 'devastated' at losing sentimental memories after being accused of posting child exploitation material

Australia Broadcast Center

16 hours ago

Suna would often scroll through her social media accounts to look back at memories of her late father, who passed away from dementia in 2019.
It was a way to relive precious moments.
"When my dad died, it was very traumatic, so I would often go on Facebook to look at photos of him," Suna said.
"Each post was like a reminder, holding a memory of the times I spent with him.
"Even the simplest of photos, like one of us drinking coffee, meant a lot to me."
But on July 12, those photographs, conversations and voice notes she held dear of her father could not be accessed.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned Suna's personal accounts, falsely accusing her of posting child exploitation material.
Suna said she never posted anything untoward on her account and did not know what exactly triggered the suspension. She immediately appealed the decision, which was unsuccessful.
"They're [Meta] accusing us of things we haven't done with no proof, it's unfair.
And she is not the only one to be impacted.
Dozens of readers have contacted the ABC saying their digital lives have been up-ended after their accounts were banned on false pretexts.
Many have voiced their devastation at losing sentimental memories and being unable to communicate with friends and family.
What is being referred to worldwide as the Meta "ban wave" has also raised questions over the company's method for identifying accounts in breach of their community standards.
Thousands of users across the globe have signed a petition accusing Meta's "broken AI enforcement systems" of wrongly banning accounts and being unresponsive to pleas for assistance.
Meta did not answer ABC questions about why it wrongly accused Suna of violating its policies. However, the company did reinstate her account shortly after email correspondence.
On July 15, Eliza Aydin says she posted a photo on Instagram showing off the flowers she received for her 22nd birthday.
Shortly after that post, she received an email that her Instagram account had been suspended.
Like Suna, Ms Aydin was also accused of not following community standards on child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity.
Despite appealing against the decision, she has not heard from Meta since and has been locked out of her main form of communication with friends and overseas family members.
"I use Instagram as a way to document my life," she said.
"I have family milestones, personal achievements, old photos with friends, and voice notes that I can't access anymore because they're not saved anywhere else.
Ms Aydin likened the feeling to going through withdrawals.
"I know that sounds silly, but it's this feeling of not having something you relied on so much and trying to learn to get by without it."
University of Melbourne senior lecturer in media communications Jennifer Beckett says this shows just how fragile online life can be.
"We're used to being able to create so many memories so quickly that we have kind of forgotten about the ephemerality of a lot of that," Dr Beckett told ABC News.
"Often, we don't realise what the memories mean to us now until we lose them."
It is not just the loss of personal memories that is an issue.
Being falsely blamed for posting or interacting with child abuse material can contribute to heightened stress and anxiety, Dr Beckett says.
"Can you imagine what that does to somebody's reputation?
"Those accusations can impact someone's mental health and their relationships within the community."
The ABC also raised Ms Aydin's case with Meta on August 16.
Do not rely on social media platforms to store your memories.
Karen Sutherland, senior lecturer in public relations at the University of the Sunshine Coast, says it is time to go back to the "old-school method".
"If they really are treasured memories, you have got to treat them that way," Dr Sutherland says.
Think about backing up your photos, conversations, voice notes and other information in multiple locations, such as on:
On Facebook and Instagram, you can even download a copy of your information, including posts, photos, videos, messages and more.
Dr Beckett says it is important to keep physical copies of everything because at the end of the day, you can not trust that companies like Meta will do the right thing by their users.
"It's ones and zeros in space and you are completely at the whims of the political economy of digital media," she says.
Even if Ms Aydin gets her account back, she says the ban has taken the enjoyment out of something that is supposed to be fun.
"I'll be walking on eggshells because all I initially did was post a picture of me with some flowers," she said.
"I'll be too scared to post anything, say anything or express my feelings or political opinion."
On its website, Meta claims to use both humans and AI technology to moderate content that is against its community standards.
But experts say the accuracy of AI moderation is not there yet.
"Soon after President Donald Trump came into office, Meta decided to cut out human moderators and rely more on AI," Dr Sutherland said.
"But there lies the problem. AI isn't developed enough to accurately understand different nuances around different types of content."
Dr Beckett agrees.
"While AI can make a decision, it's very bad at context."
When asked by the ABC, the tech giant did not comment on claims that AI was to blame for the unfair bans.
Meanwhile, the Australian government says it is working toward a set of industry guidelines to help users raise issues and get better outcomes, including with regard to account bans.