Over the weekend, I decided it was time I took a break to eat lunch from my daily chores of designing the one-of-a-kind jewelry and digital art that has brought my work to shows all over the U.S and recently, Europe. I sat down with my homemade leftovers while I opened my Instagram phone app to find a message stating “No one can see or find your account. All your information will be permanently DELETED.” At first I thought this was some kind of hacker that must have accessed my accounts, but I remembered I had set up two-factor authentication last year. And checking with various followers, family and work colleagues confirmed there has been nothing seen unusual on my accounts, except my usual posting of reels and photos with step-by-step process shots of me doing what I do best, designing and fabricating my Upcycled jewelry line.
Despite the dialogue Instagram or Facebook provides on the screen – there was NO METHOD to appeal, no recourse, just a LOG OUT button. Imagine the horror I felt, the immediate and continual stress I experience, knowing I was being falsely accused of “violating community standards.” I have never done ANY such thing, nor have I ever posted anything except images of myself, my artwork at various exhibitions or studio process shots. My Facebook account was in fact, asked by Facebook / Meta late last Fall to switch my account over to a “Creator” account, labeled “Artist.” So how on earth am I violating “our community standards,” when I only followed Facebook’s OWN prompts to change my account to a more public-facing “Digital Creator” version?
So essentially, Meta Platforms has blocked me from accessing thirteen-plus years of my work exhibition photos and reels, my posts about other individual artists’ artwork/ceramics/jewelry I’ve shared, using the available ‘share post’ buttons within each app. Such examples include images taken at Creative Philadelphia‘s “Art in City Hall” programs, dozens of in-person visits and work I purchased to support The Clay Studio, Philadelphia and artwork I shared of marginalized local BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ artists that co-exhibited with me at The National Liberty Museum and The Woodmere Museum, also in my hometown of Philadelphia, PA.
Since this happened, I’ve since filed a complaint with my local Attorney General’s Office against this ridiculous accusation by Meta for removing my long-held accounts. A Google search will provide one with many recent instances of many other artists and small business owners have had their livelihoods nearly destroyed by these wrongful bans, like me. So far, I found three different news outlets that have reported these same issues occurring, one of these was a recent report by CBS News Philadelphia by reporter Josh Sidorowicz. In this video, one can see these business owners are under a false attack on their characters for a situation that Meta Platforms mistakenly created by handing off too important responsibilities to Artificial Intelligence (AI) botts, instead of being addressed by actual human employees.
Have any of you been victimized by this wrongful sweeping AI behavior within Meta’s social media platforms Instagram and Facebook? Share your comments here or forward this post to anyone whom may find it helpful. Rest assured, I am not giving up in my pursuit of getting my original accounts restored.
