ST. LOUIS — Meta’s AI recently disabled the social accounts of a St. Louis business owner who says the reason behind the boot is based on a false accusation. 

On Oct. 29, Krista Riley, owner of PRICK’D MedSpa, said she attempted to access her personal and business pages on Instagram and Facebook but learned that it was inaccessible due to Meta permanently disabling them. She said the reason Meta abruptly disabled her account was that her account violated their community standards on “child sexual exploitation, abuse, and nudity.”

“Did we get flagged for doing cellulite on a buttocks on our Live?” she thought, but she said that person was 18.”It was devastating.”

Riley is a licensed medical aesthetics provider and national injector trainer. According to her, she used her business account for educational purposes only with clients over the age of 18. She said she pays for Meta ads and receives anywhere between 50 to 75 leads a week through social media, which is how the majority of her customers find her. 

According to Riley, her appeal was denied within seconds of submitting it.

 She said even when she talked to a human, they couldn’t help her.

Within days, Riley said she was blacklisted from all six accounts. First were her business accounts, and then another until they were all deactivated. 

“We’re supposed to have support, and they are wrongfully accusing us of a very heinous crime, and we can’t even defend ourselves.”

Riley even tried to open new accounts but was unsuccessful. 

5 On Your Side contacted Meta on Friday, but we have not received a statement yet. 

She decided to research the issue and found other people who say they are also victims. She has now joined the nearly 50,000 people who signed a People over Platform’s petition demanding that Meta fix what they claim are AI wrongfully disabled accounts. The victims are not just in America but Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Russia, and Vietnam. 

“I entrusted Meta with building my business both on Instagram and Facebook; that’s how I was able to build PRICK’D solely with building my business on social media. We also pay monthly for Meta support.” 

According to People Over Platform Worldwide’s petition, this is not isolated. The group claims the AI agenda has cost people their businesses, income, years of photos and messages, and so much more. 

The disablement impacted Riley on a sentimental level, too. 

“I lost many nights of sleep because I thought I lost a lot of photos of my father, grandparents, and children that I only had on Facebook, because my laptop got stolen years ago, so it was all on Facebook.” 

On Monday, Riley shared her story with another news outlet, and within seconds of the story airing, she said her accounts were restored. 

According to Meta’s site, they can’t restore accounts that were disabled for severe violations. Child sexual exploitation seems to fall into that category. But if account holders believe they made a mistake, they can request another review. 

“The appeal process says it could take up to 48 hours, but it was instantaneous,” Riley said. “Go get your stuff backed up so you don’t wake up one day and 25 years of your life is taken from you.” 

Now, Riley wants to encourage others to store irreplaceable data elsewhere.  

“We are losing human emotions. Yes, I use AI every day in my business, and it’s been very helpful with marketing things, but I also think it’s detrimental. … I think it can be beneficial, but we have to use it correctly.” 

The business accounts are Riley’s livelihood. 

“You don’t realize how much of your business relies on social media until it’s ripped from under you.” 

5 On Your Side tried to access the accounts on Friday, and the pages didn’t exist, but on Wednesday, it showed the accounts again. 

“We’re scared to even click a button now,” Riley said about the experience. “I hate social media, but it’s a part of the beast now, especially in the esthetics business.”