Meta forced to apologize after teacher’s account is banned for ‘child sexual exploitation’

An online petition aimed at making social media platforms improve their moderation practices has received over 34,000 signatures.

Social media giant Meta was forced to apologize to a Canadian teacher who lost her Instagram account after they falsely accused her of sharing material depicting “child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity,” according to a report.

It took high school history teacher Megan Conte several days just to get in touch with an actual human at Meta to try and make her case – but her account still wasn’t reinstated.

“When I read what I was accused of, I was very hurt. I was very surprised, especially considering what I do for a living,” Conte told CBC Toronto. “And there was no one I could contact – no human.”

The social media platform took action only after being contacted by CBC, the outlet reported, and then issued an apology to Conte. It’s unclear why Meta objected or what her posts included before the ban.

“We’re sorry we got this wrong and that you were unable to use Instagram for a while,” an email from Meta to Conte read. “Sometimes we need to take action to keep our community safe.”

Meta, owner of Instagram, was forced to issue an apology after it incorrectly banned a high school teacher, claiming her account had material depicting ‘child sexual exploitation.’ (AP)

Conte isn’t the only one concerned with the confusing ways social media moderators, such as those who banned her Instagram, operate.

An online petition started by Brittany Watson, also banned by Meta, rallies against the perceived over-reliance by social media companies on artificial intelligence and has gained over 34,000 signatures, according to the report.

“Social media isn’t just social media anymore. It’s now part of daily lives,” Watson said. “Now, they’re taking that away without any explanation.”

Watson hopes her petition forces social media sites to improve moderation tools, telling CBC, “I think the robots need to be reset.”

While Watson and Conte have no proof that artificial intelligence is behind their bans, tech expert Carmi Levy told CBC it would be impossible for Meta to use humans alone to moderate its sites.

“With over three billion regular users of these platforms, there’s no way that Meta could hire enough people in the world to cover everything that gets posted,” Levy said. “Automation is the only way they can make this scale.”

A spokesperson for Meta said they use a combination of people and technology to track violations of its community standards.

“We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we’ve made a mistake,” the spokesperson added.