Meta gave them their accounts back, but the bigger problem remains
Thursday, 26 March 2026
Meta has restored the Facebook and Instagram accounts of four New Zealanders who said they were wrongly locked out from the social media platforms - reversing decisions that had cut them off from work, memories and loved ones.
But the reinstatements, which came only after weeks of distress, public scrutiny and repeated questions from The Post, have raised fresh concerns about how many other users may be wrongly swept up by the tech giant’s moderation systems.
One of those caught up in the mess was a news photographer, who is now warning others to download their data before it is too late.
The photographer, who wants to remain anonymous, was kicked off Instagram six weeks ago after Meta wrongly accused him of breaching its community standards by distributing “child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity”.
He appealed the decision, but got little response.
Read more:
Ban first, explain never: The Kiwis losing work, memories and community to Meta
TikTok, Meta warn NZ against banning under 16s from social media
Frustrated, he spoke to The Post about his experience - prompting Meta’s Australasian spokesperson to accuse the newspaper of “blackmail”.
Last Wednesday, he was told his appeal had failed and he would be permanently blocked from his accounts, including his Facebook account, which he had used for 18 years to store photos, messages and memories.
Then, at 2am on Sunday, Meta reversed course.
“We're sorry that we've got this wrong and that you weren't able to use Instagram for a while,” the notification said.
“Sometimes, we need to take action to help keep our community safe.”
The photographer is relieved but baffled.
“I'm still left with more questions than answers, but it’s just nice to be back on.”
He has one message for anyone with a Facebook or Instagram account: “Download your data right now”.
“Go into the settings and download all the information from all time, just do it. And I've set a reminder on my phone so every year I'm going to re-download my data from the last year so I've always got it … you never know how quickly it can be taken away from you.”
His story prompted others to come forward.
They included healthcare worker Cheyanne Figueroa, photographer Brad Roberts and business owner Carmen Bailey - all of whom said they had been abruptly and unfairly ejected from Meta’s platforms, with little explanation and no meaningful path to appeal.
All four have now had their accounts restored.
Bailey said she was relieved, but angry it took so much to get there.
“It’s a sad indictment on how to go about day to day business today that engaging media is the only way to get the right outcome in a world that is becoming more and more driven by bots - it proves the human element is still important in some environments.”
But for many others, the nightmare is not over.
The Post has been contacted by other people who say they have been wrongly blocked - including business owners whose livelihoods have suffered, someone who says a scammer reported their account, another who shared pro-Palestine content, and a grandfather who signed up to Facebook simply to follow his grandson’s cricket team.
The grandfather hadn’t even posted anything, but was banned last month after Meta alleged he had breached its community standards. He appealed, but the appeal failed and he was permanently blocked.
“How can such a large company be so incompetent?”
For others, the consequences have been even more personal.
One grandmother was blocked on the morning of a family member’s tangi, meaning she was unable to watch the Facebook livestream. Her son was left “extremely angry”.
“Where is the justice?” she asked.
A 16-year-old also had her account disabled in December, alongside her mother’s, because it was linked as a parent account. The pair say it has left them disconnected and disrupted their lives, including missing updates about school trips and dancing.
“She is bereft, I am completely livid,” the mother said.
The impact was not just social. It also had practical consequences.
Her 14-year-old son is a Type One diabetic, dependent on an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring system. When it failed late on a Saturday, she would normally turn to a Facebook parent group to borrow a spare - but could not because her account had been disabled.
Luckily, she had the number of another parent who was able to help.
“I am so agitated by what they're getting away with here. Meta are not only displaying a complete disregard for their user base but also displaying a rather abject lack of sophistication in their AI engines if so many false positives are being trapped by their automation.
“I would never choose a Meta AI platform if this is the best they can achieve. It’s frankly shocking.”
The head of communications at drug-checking group Know Your Stuff, Rhiannon Davies, has also had their personal account disabled. It appears to have been removed because of an incorrect assumption that the organisation is involved in illegal activity.
But the group’s services are legal in New Zealand.
“The removal of a staff member’s personal account, used for private communication rather than organisational activity, appears to stem from a misunderstanding of New Zealand law and of the nature of our work,” said trustee Angela Howell.
“Despite providing extensive documentation about this, after months of silence from Meta, we are still asking for transparency and a fair review.”
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the company takes action “on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we've made a mistake”.
The company has previously said it uses a combination of people and technology to find people it believes are breaking its rules.