I lived an Influencer’s nightmare: Instagram permanently suspended my account for false reasons and I thought @DiamondsintheLibrary was gone forever.
95,300 followers, 4,304 posts, 11 years of work, all lost in an instant.
I got very lucky and was able to restore my suspended Instagram in just three days, instead of the months it usually takes. Now, after weeks of trying, I finally managed to get on a phone call with Instagram and get some solid answers about what happened – and some advice about what to do if it happens again.
I’m going to share all the info at the end of this post, as a toolkit for anyone else who might need to fight a permanent Instagram suspension enacted for false reasons.
But first, I’m going to take a step back and walk you through the whole story.
Why Instagram permanently suspended me and how I got my account back.
Here’s what happened:
I was out of town with Mr. DitL for a romantic vacation in honor of our anniversary (14 years since our first date!). I tried to check my Instagram account during a quiet moment and nothing would load – I was still signed in, but my account looked like I had never posted and I couldn’t get new posts to load in my feed.
I hopped over to Threads, Instagram’s Twitter alternative, to see if other people were talking about an Instagram outage.
Instead of being able to see my Threads feed, I had a popup informing me that @DiamondsintheLibrary’s account was suspended.
Part 1: The Suspension
The reason given for my Instagram suspension was that I had allegedly violated the following Community Guideline:
“We don’t allow people on Instagram to pretend to be someone well-known, or speak for them without permission. Examples of things we don’t allow: Creating an account that looks like it belongs to a celebrity, using a photo of someone famous to deceive people, creating content that pretends to speak for a public figure, like a politician.”
I knew that I had not violated this rule. While I do appreciate Instagram calling me a “well-known figure,” I obviously cannot impersonate myself, because I am me.
I hoped my innocence meant that it would be easy to appeal the Instagram suspension, but I had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t be that simple.
Part 2: The Appeal
I had an email from Meta in my inbox, repeating what the popup had said about my Instagram suspension and linking to more information.
I was grateful that I had seen the popup first, or I would have assumed this email was a scam and deleted it (I get SO MANY sketchy emails like this from scammers saying my IG or FB is in trouble and that I need to click on a link to save my account). Don’t be fooled! Remember that if your Instagram or Facebook account ever is actually in trouble, you’ll have warnings in your app too.
Confident that the email was real, I clicked “Review Details” and read everything I could find about the Community Guideline I was accused of violating. Next, I went back to my Instagram app and tapped the “Appeal” button.
I assumed that the appeal would give me a chance to make my case, but no such luck. The app generated a series of codes that I had to enter in various ways…and that was it. I received an email telling me I’d have the results of my appeal within a day.
It was only a couple of hours later that I received the news that Instagram had rejected my appeal. My Instagram account suspension was now permanent.
It was over. Diamonds in the Library was dead.
My hands shook. I couldn’t think. How could this be happening??
My Instagram account – the centerpiece of my career – was gone. Permanently disabled for violating a rule I had not violated. My only appeal had been rejected and there was no guidance for what to do next.
Part 3: We fight back.
Mr. DitL and I were still at a fancy hotel for our weekend getaway. We did actually still to go to our anniversary dinner – Mr. DitL offered to cancel, but we’d made reservations at a Michelin starred restaurant months in advance and I refused to let a social media crisis keep us from enjoying that experience together.
After the dinner (which was fantastic), we sat side by side within the pink curtains of our hotel room’s massive canopy bed in almost total silence, both of us frantically researching and networking and looking for answers long into the night.
I scoured Instagram and Facebook’s Help sections, searching for any loophole I could possibly use to get another appeal or any way I could reach a human to make my case. I read dozens of posts on the Instagram subreddit from other people who had had their Instagram permanently suspended. What I found was story after story of people emailing Support@Instagram.com over and over and over again until their accounts magically reappeared. The average amount of time that took? 5-8 months.
I started emailing Support@Instagram and Support@Meta.com every few hours. I sent short, heartfelt emails begging for help. I sent long, extremely professional emails requesting assistance. I complied extensive lists of proof that I am who I say I am: links to video interviews of me, newspaper articles about me, magazine features about me and about my Instagram account specifically. I also submitted error report after error report through my Facebook account, explaining what had happened and begging for help.
No response.
At instagram.com/hacked/, I found instructions for recovering a hacked account by answering a series of questions and submitting a video selfie. I tried it, but received no reply.
Instagram suspended my account on Saturday, February 1st. By Monday, I was out of ideas.
I logged into my backup Instagram account (singular @DiamondintheLibrary, as opposed to main account @DiamondsintheLibrary) and uploaded an emotional video announcing that Instagram permanently suspended my primary account and asking for help.
I was humbled and touched by the response – I’m truly lucky to have so many caring, supportive friends in my life.
As my plea for help spread, I started to hear from people. A cousin who used to work with someone who was now at Meta. A high school friend whose husband might be able to help. Acquaintances and coworkers and followers and friends of friends all offering to do what they could, even through nobody knew exactly what to do.
I also started to receive a darker sort of advice: whispers of “a guy who knows a guy” who could get my disabled Instagram account back if was willing to open my wallet. Only two of these mysterious sources shared prices: one asked for $1,500 and one wanted $7,000.
I do pay for Instagram’s support service, Meta Verified, which is supposed to include extra assistance and account protection. I hoped I’d be able to lean on that support in my time of need, but I quickly discovered that the only way to contact Meta Verified support is through the Instagram app, but ONLY while signed into the account that pays for it.
Meta Verified had already failed to protect my account, despite the monthly fee I pay for account protection and support. With my main Instagram suspended, I now had no way of even contacting this service to actually use the benefits I’d been paying for.
A friend who also has Meta Verified offered to contact them through her app on my behalf. Not only did Meta Verified refuse to share any contact information that I could use to contact them outside the app, they strongly implied to my friend that if she kept asking questions on my behalf, there would be consequences for her Instagram account too. They told her this:
“To address your concern, please know that this team only supports requests on behalf of accounts or entities (e.g., Pages, Groups) you directly manage. Further violations of the guidelines may result in loss of Creator support access.”
So not only was my Instagram permanently suspended for reasons that made no sense, I officially had no way to contact Instagram to fight it.
Part 4: Congressman ex machina
Early afternoon on Monday, February 5th, I got the call that changed everything.
The cheerful stranger on the other end of the line introduced herself as being from the office of my local Congressman, Representative Jamie Raskin. She said that they received my email about how Instagram was destroying my small business with an unjustified suspension and that the Congressman wanted to help.
I knew I hadn’t emailed a Congressmen…but it turned out that my husband had!! That that first night while we were both working in silence, the brilliant Mr. DitL had reached out to every public figure he thought might be interested in Meta harming my small business – up to and including the Attorney General of the United States.
But it was Representative Jamie Raskin who came through. The Congressman’s office sent me a Digital Privacy Release form to fill out. I had to prove that I lived in Raskin’s district, which was easy, because I do (I grew up here! I’m a lifer). I had to write out my story again and check a box saying the following:
“I hereby request the assistance of the Office of Representative Jamie Raskin to resolve the matter described below. I authorize the Office of Representative Jamie Raskin to receive any information that they might need to provide this assistance. The information I have provided to the Office of Representative Jamie Raskin is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. The assistance I have requested from the Office of Representative Jamie Raskin is in no way an attempt to evade or violate any federal, state, or local law.”
I wasn’t sure what a Congressman would be able to do for a permanently disabled Instagram account, but I filled out the form, checked the box, and crossed my fingers.
Part 5: Diamonds in the Library lives!!
Congressman Raskin’s office received my paperwork at 2:40 pm. At 3:23 pm, I received an email from Instagram saying Diamonds in the Library was restored and apologizing (apologizing!!) for the mistake.
It turns out that Congressman Raskin is on the Democratic Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which has had several clashes with Instagram and Facebook over the platforms’ handling of misinformation and other topics.
I was terrified that it was too good to be true, or that I was hallucinating due to full mental breakdown. I texted my husband, asking if he could see it too – and he could!! Diamonds in the Library lived again!
Neither my husband or I have any connection to Representative Raskin. We’ve never met with him or worked with him before in any way. Neither of us has politically influential connections. Representative Raskin is truly just out here helping out his constituents, and I am lucky enough to live in his district.
Part 6: The aftermath
I signed into my newly restored main account, @DiamondsintheLibrary, and posted a video, announcing my miraculous return from Instagram suspension! Shortly after, I was interviewed by Rob Bates of JCK Magazine about the whole ordeal (article here, also discussed JCK’s podcast here).
I was incredibly relieved and happy that my permanent Instagram suspension was over – and shocked that it had been resolved so quickly – but I still had a lot of questions. I was also furious that I’d been paying $15,99 a month for Meta Verified to protect my account only to discover that it wasn’t able to prevent my wrongful Instagram suspension or help me in any way when my account was permanently disabled.
I also still didn’t understand WHY I had been suspended for violating a rule I did not violate, which meant I didn’t know how to prevent it from happening again.
I wanted answers.
What to do if your Instagram account is permanently suspended.
It took me a couple of weeks to get up the courage to reach out to Instagram to ask questions. I was afraid of making them angry and losing my account again as punishment…but I’m so glad I eventually found the courage, because I learned a lot.
I had learned the hard way that emailing Support@Instagram.com is useless, so I used my Instagram app (which I could now access again!!) to go to the Meta Verified tab in the menu. From there, I was able to select “Get Support” and submit an email.
Emailing didn’t get me anywhere. Every time I was connected with an agent, they saw that my account had already been restored, marked my issue as solved, and closed my help ticket without answering any of my questions. Finally, I tried choosing “Help with Meta Verified” in the app and tapped the live chat option.
My Meta Verified support agent was named Maria, and she offered to call me for a phone conversation as soon as I explained the situation.
Why was I suspended?
I asked Maria to help me understand why I had been suspended for doing something I didn’t do, even though I pay for Meta Verified’s extra account protection.
Maria assured me that my Meta Verified subscription should have been able to protect my account from false reports, but added that that if too many people report an account for the same violation, then the reports will supersede the Meta Verified protection and that account will be suspended.
Maria said that she “couldn’t confirm” that my account had actually been reported repeatedly, but emphasized that mass reporting was the most likely cause for any Instagram suspension of this nature.
She recommended that I think about what “business enemies” I may have to figure out who was falsely reporting me for impersonation. I don’t think I have any business enemies? (If we’re enemies, please let me know.) But I do have a theory about what might have happened.
I’ve experienced a large increase in the amount of antisemitic harassment I receive on Instagram over the past 6 months. I don’t post about my religion frequently, but I also don’t hide the fact that I’m Jewish. I’ve been going to great lengths to report every one of those antisemitic accounts and any antisemitic posts I can find connected to them.
I suspect that the entity behind these antisemitic attacks may have decided to escalate to getting my account permanently suspended by submitting false reports about me. There’s nothing I can do to stop that from happening again, but Maria assured me that my case is now highlighted in her personal system and if more impersonation reports come in about me, she’ll know they’re fake.
Here’s what makes the whole thing even worse: I’ve been blocking and reporting all of the antisemitic accounts harassing me for hate speech, but I keep getting notified that Instagram has dismissed every single one of my reports, saying the antisemitic comments and images don’t violate the Community Guidelines.
So for anyone keeping track at home: Instagram refuses to take action against the antisemitic accounts harassing me, but was happy to slap me with a permanent suspension for being the target of that harassment.
How can I contact Meta Verified if my Instagram is disabled?
I told Maria that I was very unhappy that I had been unable to contact Meta Verified for help while my account was permanently suspended – because why would I continue paying $15.99 per month for account protection and support that from a service that does not protect my account or offer me support?
Maria confirmed that it is possible to contact Meta Verified while your Instagram account is suspended…but it is only possible if you ALSO pay for Meta Verified on a linked Facebook account.
Here are Maria’s instructions on how to contact Meta Verified support through Facebook:
- Open the Facebook Mobile app and log in to your Verified account.
- Tap in the top right, then tap .
- Tap Go to Accounts Centre, then tap Meta Verified.
- Tap your Verified profile, then tap Get Support.
- Select the issue that you need support for.
Again, this only works if you also pay for Meta Verified on Facebook.
And guess what? Right after my account was restored, I started getting popup notifications advertising a special price for a second Meta Verified subscription.
Part 7: Moving forward.
The whole adventure of having my Instagram permanently suspended – probably because antisemitic strangers mass reported me out of spite – and then having a Congressman step in to save the day was very surreal. I had to take several breaks while writing this post because thinking about what happened still makes me so angry and overwhelmed.
I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to get my permanent Instagram suspension reversed, thanks to Representative Raskin’s compassion and effectiveness on my behalf, and very appreciative that Maria at Instagram took the time to answer my questions about the whole experience.
But I can’t lie: this whole thing made me feel so helpless and frustrated and powerless. I am seriously rethinking the amount of time and effort I pour into social media.
I’m still a blogger and I’m not going to stop talking about jewelry on the internet. But I realize that over the last 5 years or so, most of my focus has shifted to Instagram…a platform I cannot control, that exists simply to extract money from its users, on an account that can be taken away at any time for no reason, despite the safety nets I thought I had built to protect it.
I’m still thinking about what I want to do differently, but there’s one thing I know for sure: I can’t count on Instagram to be there for me.
Have you ever had an issue like this with Instagram? Do any of you know a trick I didn’t find for reclaiming a suspended account? Is anyone else out there having similar thoughts about wondering how to make Instagram less important to your business? And if yes – do you have any advice to offer me?
I know I’m not the only jewelry account to go through this recently. If you’re ever in a similar nightmare, I hope this information is helpful to you!! If you have any questions for me about my experience, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thank you to everyone who supported me while I was going through this ordeal: everyone who sent good wishes, who wanted to help, who sent over suggestions and contacts and leads.
And thank you again also to Representative Raskin, who absolutely saved my small business!! I haven’t been so excited about the government since I was in a live musical version of Schoolhouse Rock in middle school.
And just in case you were wondering, Representative Raskin is currently running for reelection in Maryland’s 8th District and you can learn more about him here, on his website.
Need more Instagram help? Here’s how to report a stolen photo on Instagram.
Stock photos c/o Unsplash.
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I tried various routes to recover my account when it was disabled days ago before I was referred to anthonydaviestech, a capable and qualified expert who works at META. To my surprise, he successfully recovered access to my account within 24 hours. Don’t hesitate to contact him in case you’re having issues with your account; he can be reached by email at anthonydaviestech @ gmail com
I found your post after Googling “disabled Instagram account recovery.” THANK YOU for sharing such a detailed account of your experience. I’m current waiting for my personal account to be reinstated after being disabled. In my case, I like to enter giveaways and many businesses on IG want you to tag a friend and include a hashtag. I think that’s what got me. So, so frustrating and infuriating to be locked out of my account that I use to keep in contact with friends and family. It blows my mind how easily and flippantly this happens to regular people, when I’m inundated with bots following me and fake influencers messaging me to “click here” to join their social media campaign. What.The.Heck.?! And I remember the hearings with the CEOs testifying, but I didn’t give it much thought because I naively thought – well I’m not scamming people or being malicious. How wrong I was! And judging from the comments here, it seems like we’re all in the same boat.
It’s ridiculous how hard it is to contact a help desk or email or whatever. I was shaking my head reading your ordeal! So thank you for sharing; I will be bookmarking your post in case this happens to me again (assuming my account gets reinstated). And I am terribly sorry for the anti-Semitic comments you’ve had to deal with. <3
Hi Christie,
I absolutely agree with you that it’s very hard to understand why Instagram is focusing their time, energy, and money on other things instead of these rather glaring problems that we’re all encountering. It’s truly wild to see what they consider acceptable and what they’re cracking down on.
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to leave this kind and insightful comment! I hope you never need the tips in this post.
xoxo,
Becky
Hello!
Thanks for posting. Perhaps you and Rep Raskins would take this to a more public forum to speak out about it?!
I had no idea accounts could just disappear. My personal one did T-day! I wrote 2 kind comments, got flagged for ‘community violation’ the first time, then suspended.
Countless emails and constant return to the same defunct ‘verify’ screen.
Today I decided to make a new account, just in the meantime.
It was up and running for about 2 minutes. I sent one comment, a nice one.
BOOM! Suspended.
This is bizarre. So many people, creators out there are trying to build a following over years. They count on it.
I counted on it being there for my emotional life. I had 5 chat replies, 12 comments and countless likes waiting for me. : (. Feels SO sad just to have it all vanish.
It would be good for people to know what kind of control the tech companies have. I would never have thought my peaceful little account would have anything happen to it! (let alone one I JUST created today!)
What happens to all the creators who are building a following?! Apparently theirs can also just disappear.
It would be SO good for people to know about this! Public awareness can help turn the tide!
Why don’t you get an article about your story written up in the local newspaper? Do it in conjunction with Rep Raskin’s office and get OTHER PEOPLE who’ve had this experience in the story as well!
The more light is shed on this, the more the tech companies will have to respond!
Could you perhaps at least contact Rep Raskin’s office about going more public about this?
There could be warnings on soc media just like on cigarette packages, so people know what they risk!
WARNING: this company can suspend your account, lock you out and take away all you’ve built up for basically no reason. Proceed only if you are ok with these terms!
At least people need to know what they’re getting into! Like a sign on a beach — ‘swim at your own risk’! No lifeguard on duty and sharks abound! (And the shark is running the beach!!)
Shedding light on this, beyond just getting one problem resolved would be so helpful.
We are the product for these companies, NOT the ‘consumer’. So they, I guess can toss us out at will. And I imagine their pockets run deep in congress. It’ll take someone like Raskins (hope I’m spelling that right) and people like you with personal stories to bring all of this to light and effect, hopefully real change. Or at least inform everyone, like Hey! Smoking kills! Don’t swim here! Don’t post if you’re not ok with losing everything on a whim! —-
Sincerely from Virginia.
Kirsten
I started my IG account in 2012. It was a personal account. A few weeks ago, it went POOF. I am permanently suspended. I have no idea what I supposedly did wrong. I don’t post about politics or anything controversial. It just seems so unfair. At least my account was not part of my livelihood. I am very sorry for the folks who have lost a source of income. The most frustrating part is not being able to know why my account was permanently suspended and not being able to defend myself.
Hi Becky,
Thanks ever so much for sharing this comprehensive account on your IG ordeal and how you got your account back in the end. Well done! But this was such unnecessary stress, waste of time and threat to your business, it is unbelievable.
My account got flagged and suspended yesterday. I had only comeback to IG two months ago after a 4 year break. I think there was a reason why I decided to delete the account in 2020 and was reluctant to return.
I read from many users online, as well as from the travel content writer community on Twitter, how atrocious Meta is. They won’t help or make it possible to contact a human on their end at all. I had actually enjoyed IG, as I was only shown content which actually interested me. Oh well, if my appeal gets rejected than that’ll be it.
Twitter is not that much better. Why no one threatened me to have the account taken away, the feed is full of very disturbing content, political hate and bots on end. Makes one question what has happened to Social Media if innocent real users get suspended, blocked and rejected? It would tie in with the dead internet theory but I do not want to go there as I hate all the conspiracy theories circulating out there.
Keep up with your work and all the best, once again, thanks for sharing your experience and all your insights with us. Good luck!
Carolin | Solo Travel Story
My wife and I are going through this right now. Our account was taken down for violating community rules. We tried appealing, submitting verification, etc. Just got the email saying that despite our request to appeal the account is now permanently disabled. We’re sooo heartbroken. Instagram is the primary way we share our film company and we were just getting going. We have events and films screenings coming soon and now our main way of promoting has been taken from us with no explanation or warning. We are heartbroken.
Thank you for this article it’s given us some ideas of how to fight this and a little bit of hope which we really needed.
Oh my goodness, how frustrating!! I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, I really hope it works out.
xoxo,
Becky
I too just received notice that my account has been suspended for “violating community rules”? It then tells me I can take action or lose access and directs me to a Captcha screen, and it just keeps repeating and stating something went wrong, so how can I appeal if it won’t let me? I don’t have a business account but I really enjoy following some folks and learning new cooking skills. I have tons of recipes saved and now I will be losing them if this doesn’t get fixed! Minor issues compared to some, but somehow Meta needs to get called out on this and give more details on how we get suspended.
That is so frustrating! I’m sorry that’s happening to you. I hope that it will end up being resolved.
xoxo,
Becky
Hi, thanks so much for sharing this.
I am old (58 lol) and never had a SM acct intil last year.
When politics ramped up i noticed Instagram allows disgusting obvious misinformation, racist and misogynistic Reels, post/comments s
Wasn’t long before I was permanently deleted in my efforts to push back.
My assessment is Instagram does not do due diligence on complaints and furthermore, they cater to people that can doll it but are very sensitive with return info.
The media has fallen prey to bullying and I was threatening a BUBBLE they live in.
I moved to another SM to profess my support and get recipes. Lol
Anti Semitic and othrr hate biases are real on IG and they need to root that out. I’m done with them.
I feel bad this happened to you but it shines a light on IG and who they cater too.
Sincerely
I have (had) an Instagram account but hardly ever logged into it. One day I got an email saying it had been suspended for something incredibly vague like “violating community rules”. How can I violate a rule when I haven’t even logged in in months? Seemed like it must have been hacked, so I made another account. Then that one got banned for evading the ban on the hacked account! Honestly pathetic.
That is so frustrating! It really doesn’t feel like they’re using any kind of understandable logic to enforce these rules at all. What a mess.
xoxo,
Becky
Just found your site.
I’m not on Instagram but was considering it, so was looking for reviews on the site.
Which led me to your review.
It sounds nightmarish.
If not for Congressman Raskin you’d still be in some bind.
I think I’ll pass on Instagram.
I do write on Medium, and I’ve written about the same problem there. People being suspended, not knowing why, and feeling helpless about the lack of recourse.
I suppose it means you have to own your space.
You are a good writer and I enjoyed reading this.
Thanks for posting.
I do agree that it sounds like a big issue – very grateful that I have this website still, even if most of my focus has been on Instagram in recent years.
Thanks for reading and commenting! And for your compliment about my writing – much appreciated.
xoxo,
Becky
2 days ago 10\3\24 got suspended and i did nothing wrong but watching reels and like vids, PLEASE anyone who knows how to fix this problem i beg u and thank u
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that! I hope you’re able to get it resolved.
xoxo,
Becky
I reserved two accounts for the linked businesses I’m building, wanted to grab the handles while I could. I have had them for a couple of months and never posted a thing on either of them. Nothing. No posts. I’ve never followed anyone, liked anything, commented on anything, literally never used them since creating them. Today I get a suspension email that I violated their community standards or am linked to an account that violated them. The “appeal” option is nothing more than a button, no place to comment and why I’m supposed to send them a photo to “verify” I am who I am when I never sent them a photo to open the account is beyond suspicious.
This company is an absolute joke. I “appealed” for entertainment purposes but it’s clearly not worth the effort since they can ban anyone on a whim for no reason and no recourse. Not the type of place I want to try and build an income for myself. Since this happened I’ve seen countless stories of the same, being banned for no reason.
I’m glad you got your account back and were able to recover your work but this has shown me they don’t want my patronage and that is more than fine with me. The feeling is mutual IG.
Oh wow, that’s infuriating! I’m so sorry that you had to deal with that. It sound so frustrating.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
xoxo,
Becky
Hi my account got suspended also today and I don’t know why either cause that’s how I stay in contact with family and peers from afar.
Please, could someone help me get my instagram back? It was suspended two days ago, no warning and I can’t get through to anything. The SMS I requested I never received, now need to wait 24hrs, which I did and still no change. This was a personal account, I can’t understand who would do this to me. I tried everything 😭
My account just got suspended today and I did not do anything wrong. I’m just a new user….
same
Same. So now I’m on BlueSky.
Hi!
Is happening to me , they have suspended all my accounts from Facebook and Instagram personal and work since they started.
Is so frustrating we can’t speak with somebody and neither threw the app. There is no way ! Not help at all.
Very frustrating and thinking the same how we put so much time in a company like that , I the other way is part of live now, how live without it?
We deserve better .
The same thing happened to me. Relentless being bullied, harassed and Instagram labeled me the bully and took my profile down. It infuriated me that they never look at the person who starts the harassment but will threaten me when I respond. I’m sick of it, all my archived stores, saved posts and music. Loss of close to 2k followers on my first account they removed after 10 years, created a new account in 2022 with 500 followers now, then they suspended this account. I’m outraged!
Instagram suspended my account for no reason. I cleaned my cache , and they signed me out of everything and when I tried to sign back in I was suspended. Instragam is too big for it’s britches. I am not going back. What a stupid company. PLEASE, Elon, start that new e-mail so I can never use Gmail again
Hyy , instagram has been suspended my all accounts.which is linked in facebook.and my facebook account has been suspended
Yes!! Same here since my accounts were linked through meta they suspended both for something they are saying I violated but I didn’t… it sucks not being able to speak with a human or some type of customer support to help! My account had to be hacked!!!
The is is the most tone deaf, privileged shit I’ve read in a while. You poor thing… sitting in a Michelin star restaurant while your Instagram was disabled. 🙄 I’m sure we all have high powered connections to congresspeople and the ability to immediately be interviewed about such a tragedy after it happens. Give me a fkn break.
Since you seem to have skipped some key parts of this article, I will reiterate here that I have no connection to this Congressman or any other. I reached Representative Raskin through a public form on his website, just like every single other person in the universe could easily do with a few clicks.
The fact that I had the chance to enjoy some good food while my career was in peril does not take away from how stressful and professionally catastrophic this series of events could have been, or how useful the information I am sharing is for other small businesses like mine that depend on Instagram for their continued existence.
You’re being extraordinarily rude for no reason, and I hope that whatever has gone so wrong in your life to prompt you to spend your time lashing out at strangers on the internet resolves soon and that you’re able to find some peace.
xoxo,
Becky
So beautifully put. =) Your story is very nice to hear given how often I read on reddit that people have lost their IG accounts for reasons beyond their understanding. You were very lucky to live in a state and district that had a congressman who cared. I have devoted a good amount of time and money over the last year building and promoting my IG and I have to say, its stressful just knowing that at the drop of a hat someone can take that all away. It truly makes working with IG something one needs to think hard about before devoting time, money, and heart into building your business there. Thank you for your story!!
I absolutely agree – I’m so grateful this happened the way it did for me. It could have been so much worse.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
xoxo,
Becky
I had my Instagram and Facebook account hacked recently and was unable to get them back.
My Instagram account was for my small business, I couldn’t believe there was absolutely no way of asking for help from Instagram.
A few days a go I set up my new account and it has been suspended three times so far?! I’ve had to appeal to get a reply saying ‘sorry we got it wrong’.
This gives me zero confidence in trying to build my account back up again, it’s so important to my business as well, absolute nightmare.
Oh no, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
xoxo,
Becky
Your experience is very sad. May I know what caused it? Or what you did to cause this?
What were you asked to submit during the appeal? How long did it take for you to hear back from Instagram after you submitted the appeal?
Does it work outside the US? Please give me a link to the form since my account is suspended.
I don’t know – I’m not an expert on Instagram account recovery, I am just sharing my own experience. But I wish you the best of luck!
xoxo,
Becky
I had 57k Followers on my insta account i am an struggling independent artist i worked for 6 years to grow my account. Was feeding my family through that account posted my cover songs on it until insta disabled it permanently telling me i am violating their identity terms. Sighh i was using my own face own voice Never bought a follower never spammed never abused i was respectful towards my followers even tried every method to Reinstate my account but meta Verified support team tells me that they can’t escalate my account to internal team. And i have sent 100 of feedbacks and emails filled some Stupid forms but didn’t get any reply. Its day 34 and i am writing this with teary eyes. literally Heart broken my last video had 6M views 💔
Have you got it back ?
I am just a regular user and rarely post and when I have it’s just mostly nature photos. I read a lot, like good news stuff, animal videos…nothing controversial. Like things here and there but nothing “bad”. Suddenly two days ago my account was disabled with NO explanation. When I click the button for details nothing was there except I “violated a rule”. But…I didn’t. What did I do? I spent hours trying to find help. Meta AI directed me to multiple places that didn’t exist. Finally instructing me to send an email to IG support and told me to be polite about it. I sent the polite email asking for information and help. I have connections I have now lost. Photos…gone. I am heartbroken. IG was my happy, relaxing place for good content, meditations…my escape. I am so confused and I don’t understand why they make it so impossible to get answers and help. Just super bummed. All this happened on the same day I had to euthanize a pet. Wish I knew what to do.
Oh no, I’m so sorry that’s happening to you!! It is such a shame that Meta can’t figure out a better way to handle things like this, especially for users who are just on the app to have fun.
Crossing my fingers for you that it all works out somehow.
xoxo,
Becky
I’m really happy your issue was resolved. Kudos to Rep Raskin!
For us “little people” what can we do? I click on the link they sent me in email & it does nothing .All I did was post 3 fruit emojis on the sponsors post before tagging friends. I switched them up & didn’t immediately post. I got 1 comment deleted earlier, so I waited a few hours. IG is becoming horrible & not user friendly
Yes I sent my condolences to someone and they deleted me for spam. Then for weeks I would make regular everyday comments and deleted for spam. Today they just deleted my account for no reason
Oh no! I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that – how infuriating!!
xoxo,
Becky
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that!! I don’t have any special connection to Representative Raskin, I just sent in a request through the public form on his website. Could be worth trying if you’re in the US?
Good luck! I’m so sorry that you’re in a similar boat.
xoxo,
Becky
You’re so luck to have had the support and, ultimately, the restoration of your account. I am constantly targeted by IG for “spam” for posts that are as simple as “I like your wheels” on a car related post, or asking someone for details about a 3D print, etc. Nothing remotely spam-like. I have had probably 20 1-week suspensions in the past 2 years, but was for-real suspended tonight. I am distraught and completely deflated by the fact there is no actual way to contact IG for a real-person to help. Like you, I’ve tried to work around and reach out to various emails, only to come up empty handed. They tell me to login to check my account status or check my appeal, but i am unable to login. (says my password is incorrect) Password reset process reports “sorry there’s a problem” but thats it! Brick-wall on every front. I feel, like you, they are trying to silence and remove people who don’t have a certain political or religious background. I wish Congress would step in and force them to support the users, and stop this one-sided censorship and destruction of people not-aligned with their agenda. :-\
There are so many problems with IG right now and I think this is one of the worst. They’re going to lose users quickly if people keep being suspended for no reason and can’t get back into their accounts!
Hopefully something internal will be changed and this situation will improve. Can’t hurt to hope!
xoxo,
Becky
This exact same this just happened to me this morning. I opened my IG to find that it had been suspended. They stated that I was claiming to be someone I wasn’t which is odd because I haven’t posted anything in awhile. I submitted an appeal only to get an email stating that I have permanently been disabled. Some of my favorite pictures from the past 10 years are on there. I’m at a loss smh
Oh no, I’m sorry it’s happening to you too!! Crossing my fingers that it works out.
xoxo,
Becky
I saw a link to this article through tumblr if I recall correctly. I am appalled but not surprised by Instagram’s kafkaesque behavior and by the craven person who tried to cancel you. Nice that your representative actually helped one of his constituents. I’m sorry this happened to you and glad you got back your account.
The same thing just happened to us!!! My http://www.facebook had over 200k followers and instagram has 170k and they both went down for nearly a whole month… i worked 24/7 to get them back and they just came back on a few days ago. It was an absolute nightmare!!! and trying to get answers from facebook or instagram is impossible. i feel for you!!!
Oh no, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with something similar!! How stressful. I’m so glad it worked out, even if you never got any answers.
xoxo,
Becky
What did you do and who did you contact for assistance?
wow, what a clusterf***! i am so sorry you went through this, and i am happy that you managed to get your account reinstated. i left instagram years ago, so i only see your posts here. kudos to your spouse for contacting All of the People, and to senator rankin for actually doing something to fix the problem! i like him better than ever now. 🙂 if this really was caused by nasty antisemitic troll creatures, i am sorry to hear it. honestly, the amount of disgustoid vileness out there causes me to be disappointed and horrified nearly daily. i love you and your posts, and i hope that the outpouring of support and help offsets, at least in part, the whole wretched experience.
It has taken some intention on my part, but I am absolutely determined to let the love and support be louder than the hate. I’m lucky to have such a strong, supportive community here and on IG – and you are absolutely one of my most loyal longtime readers, so hearing from you on all of this is extra meaningful.
Thanks for always being so great.
xoxo,
Becky
Jamie Raskin is a mensch. I agree with you – this was driven by antisemitism. It’s on American soil and worse than ever. Glad you got your account back.
YoginiVicki on Insta
Thank you so much for your support, Victoria! The hate out there is truly scary but I am lucky to have so many people in my corner. I’m determined to let the kind voices (like yours) drown out the hateful ones.
xoxo,
Becky
Jamie Raskin is my representative too! Love him and living in Maryland.
Yesss Maryland for life!! I do love it here. And Jamie Raskin is absolutely the best. I already thought he was great, but now I’m a fan forever.
Thanks for stopping by, neighbor!
xoxo,
Becky
I am so glad you’re back. How harrowing, good grief!!!! What a horrible ordeal. I left Twitter because of the antisemitism and racism they allowed to stay, I always feel like meta’s days are numbered for me.
Thanks so much, lovely Ava. And I know exactly what you mean: it’s getting truly scary out there and it’s frankly gross that these huge platforms are doing so little to protect their users. It’s really disheartening. I’m super relieved that this all worked out, but the reasons behind it are just awful to think about.
xoxo,
Becky
So relieved that you’re back but also terrified for everyone that uess IG. I do hope that your suspicions about Anti-Semitic accounts aren’t true- that’s even more terrifyng. You are brave to have gone thorugh this and to come out the other side to inform the rest of us about it. A testament to your kind nature. Whatever you do next, you’ll be supoorted.
Nicholle- Jewelry Nerd
This is the loveliest comment – thank you so much for your support, Nicholle. This whole thing really did shake me and the support of people like you in our community is absolutely what is keeping me going. Even if there are hateful strangers out there trying to take me down, I know that I also have good people rooting for me and that means so much.
xoxo,
Becky
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I think if I even want to have an online presence, I will host my very own site. Good luck going forward!
Thank you so much! And I agree: I was so so so grateful during all of this that I still had my website here even if my Instagram was lost. I definitely plan to put more energy into posting here than on IG in the future.
xoxo,
Becky
I follow and watched what happened. Any other business that involves this range of business and people would be regulated. Like TV and News Outlets. But here they clearly are free to run wild. While I hate too much government regulation, these outletrs with so much at stake need to have protection for its user’s.
Also what this must have done to your health!
It’s just terrible what hate can make people do to others. That goodness for Mr. Raskn. Us here in California love him too.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Barbara Ann. This whole thing was so stressful and frustrating – I’m extremely relieved that I got my account back, but I absolutely agree that this kind of thing should never have been able to happen in the first place. I am so grateful to live in a district with a Congressman like Jamie Raskin who is willing to take the time to help his constituents, but there are so many others who need this kind of help and can’t find it anywhere. It’s definitely a problem and I hope we will be able to find solutions.
xoxo,
Becky
Jamie represents me, too! He’s fabulous –
Yay!! He really is the best. I was already a big fan, but now he has my gratitude for life.
xoxo,
Becky
Boo hiss, Instagram! I saw your “I’m back” video. It’s so horrible that they work that way! I hope your ordeal and thorough documentation–as well as your stellar Congressman–help bring about some positive changes…and stiff consequences for Meta!
Thanks so much, Lydia!! The whole thing is wild, isn’t it?? I still can’t believe it all went down the way it did. Instagram has some serious problems and I really really hope they find a way to fix some of their issues.
xoxo,
Becky
Wow Darlin’!
I have been a supporter of you since BEFORE you wrote about my store, Classic Facets, in Boulder , Colorado. You are so important to so many – and not just the jewelry community, You are the best and I am so relived for you. And many thanks to Jamie Raskin – a truly honorable man. Good luck to you and Diamonds in the Library. Remember – you are loved!
Mikki Rainey
Aww, Mikki! Thank you for this wonderful supportive comment. I’m always delighted to hear from you, and your support and kind words mean the world to me. I am so relieved too; and reliving this to write it all down was so surreal. I can still hardly believe it happened, let alone how it ended.
I’ll never forget that day in Boulder – you were so welcoming and we had some much fun! I hope to visit again someday.
xoxo,
Becky