‘Scary’ extortion accusations over $275 charge for popular app as Aussie business owners ‘
August 27, 2025
Emma Levett · Contributor
4 min read
Instagram and Facebook are the lifeblood for many Australian small businesses. But, what seems to be a new glitch in Meta’s system, is seeing millions of these accounts closed down with no recourse or customer service assistance.
Haylee Toohey’s female fitness business page @theuprise_cardiff was one of the 10 million Meta accounts which have been targeted this year.
“In July, I received an email saying my account had been suspended because it doesn’t follow community standards on child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity,” Toohey told Yahoo Finance.
Shocked, she clicked the link to appeal and was told via email it “usually takes just over a day to review your information” after which the account will either be permanently deleted or reinstated.
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“It was obviously a false accusation,” Toohey said.
“I don’t have any photos of kids on my account.
“I thought it would be fixed, but when it didn’t come back after a week, I created a new account, but anything with my business name was immediately shut down.
“I wanted to move forward, but I couldn’t.”
What followed was weeks of emailing, stress and lost income.
Toohey said her Instagram generates two to three leads a week, which equates to thousands of dollars in lost revenue over the nearly five weeks she was offline.
Toohey’s account is by no means the only account which has been incorrectly flagged and shut down for child exploitation, with stories of Aussies having the same problem being shared regularly.
Tech commentator Trevor Long, from EFTM.com, told Yahoo Finance that he believes the crackdown against inappropriate content and accounts was a “great thing”, but flagged the use of AI detection could cause problems.
“The number of false positives in the system would be a cause for alarm,” Long said.
“It’s causing heartache for a lot of Aussies, and it can be crippling for a business.
“Business owners need to realise they can’t be beholden to these companies, and it’s a huge risk to rely on Meta.”
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After Long’s own scare back in 2021 when his page was temporarily shut down, he set up his own app instead of continuing to invest in and rely on Facebook.
“Meta is great for leads, but I’d encourage separate platforms for direct engagement.”
You might have noticed the blue tick next to some Instagram and Facebook accounts which means the user is paying Meta every month for a Meta verified package.
Starting at $22.99 a month, this promises “impersonation protection” and “Meta Verified Support” including “chat or email with agents,” which could be used for problems like Meta wrongfully shutting your account.
Long has described this as “extortion.”
“There’s no customer service for the average Aussie,” Long said.
“You get a support bot. You don’t get it [customer service] unless you pay money.
“It’s the stuff of movies where there’s no protection on the streets unless you pay for it.”
And even if you do pay, you still might not get the help you need.
One woman who does not want to be identified, fearing her account could be shut again, told Yahoo Finance she had Meta Verified for two years when her account was unexpectedly closed.
She was also accused of child exploitation and said being Meta Verified meant “nothing.”
“The enhanced support was inaccessible because I could not log into my account. It gave me zero support,” the woman said.
“It was unbelievable.”
Long told Yahoo Finance he does pay for Meta Verified as an insurance policy, but said he is “more concerned than ever”.
“There is no email to contact Meta Verified — it’s all done when you are logged in through your account, so it does beg the question how you talk to them [if your account is disabled],” he said.
Appealing through Meta’s channels only gets you so far, and Toohey credits speaking out and also contacting the small business ombudsman with getting her Instagram account back.
“Someone suggested I talk to Fair Trade and they put me on to the small business ombudsman. They were really helpful,” Toohey said.
“Since it had already been a month, they contacted Meta on my behalf, and I think coming from that channel, [my case] was seen as more important.
“My account was back within a week after that.”
Toohey said she would also pay for Meta Verified in the future, but her main learning has been not to rely on the platform.
“So many people run their business through Instagram, and the fact it can be taken away in a minute is scary,” she said. “I have changed my website, and I will be focusing more on that.”
Yahoo Finance has contacted Meta for comment.
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