Several frustrated users of Meta’s social media platforms told WJZ Investigates their Facebook and Instagram accounts have been unfairly disabled over allegations of child sexual exploitation, and they cannot get in touch with anyone at the company to get them restored. 

Those locked out of their accounts are among a growing number of Meta customers nationwide.

Shut down in Harford County 

Jenny Buschmann and her daughter Cambree from Harford County were stunned to see their linked Instagram and Facebook accounts permanently disabled by Meta. 

Buschmann called the lockout “sad and upsetting.”

“It sort of feels like David and Goliath because you just kind of feel like it’s impossible,” Buschmann said. “They don’t give you any information to try to fix the situation.”

The reason for the disabled accounts Meta told her family was even more shocking.

“She was accused of sexually exploiting a minor,” Buschmann said of the message her daughter received on her Instagram account. “We have no idea why. She doesn’t post often, and when she does, she has posted her artwork or her friends. She’s a senior in high school. She’s going to college next year. It’s very upsetting to even speak those words.”

Meta wrote, “No one can see or find your account, and you can’t use it. All your information will be permanently deleted. You cannot request another review of this decision.”

Her daughter Cambree told WJZ, “I was just utterly confused because I’ve obviously never done anything like that, so I was just wondering how they flag something like that or how they thought that I did something like that. I just wanted answers.”

But those answers from Meta proved elusive. 

Neither Cambree nor her mom could get a person from Instagram’s parent company to respond after trying to navigate the online appeals process. 

And they are not alone. 

Locked out then restored in Baltimore County 

Jennifer Solomon and her daughter Sarah Jane from Baltimore County spoke to WJZ after Sarah Jane’s Instagram account, a showcase for her beloved dogs, was disabled for the same reason the Buschmann family lost access to their accounts.

“We’d never gotten any warnings, no flags at all. It was like boom you’re done,” Solomon said. “Something that drastic, there needs to be some way to communicate with a human.

It was only after WJZ got involved that Meta apologized and told the family, “We got this wrong.”

“It’s a shame because it’s coming from a really good place, and it’s so important with all the trafficking today,” Sarah Jane said. 

Looking for answers

Meta did not respond to WJZ investigates’ latest questions about disabled accounts. 

The company has come under fire for not doing enough to keep children safe. 

At a trial still underway in New Mexico, that state’s attorney general has accused the company of failing to properly address child exploitation.

“They’ve established one of the largest online platforms in the world where we know predators are going each and every day to try and target and exploit children,” New Mexico’s Attorney General Raúl Torrez recently told CBS News. 

An abuse investigator testified in that trial Meta is now using artificial intelligence to flag child sexual abuse and that is inundating investigators with false claims, according to published reports, straining resources to find real abusers. 

Meta is currently facing a separate trial in Los Angeles alleging the company of providing an addictive, harmful product to children.    

CBS News Philadelphia recently asked Meta about its enforcement and appeal process but did not get a response. Previously, the company said that AI is “central to its content review process” and can detect and remove posts before anyone reports them.

Reporting abuse 

Meta also warns users that they report child sexual exploitation claims to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  

WJZ Investigates found more than half of the20.5 millionreports that organization received in 2024 came from Meta. 

That year is the most recent for which data is available.

In its transparency guide online, Meta wrote, “We do not allow content that endangers children, such as content that contains nudity or physical abuse or content that sexually exploits children on Facebook and Instagram. When we find this type of violating content, we remove it, regardless of the context or the person’s motivation for sharing it. We may also disable the account of the person who shared it, unless it appears the intent was not malicious (for example, to spread awareness of child exploitation).”

Petitioning for Change

The non-profit People Over Platforms Worldwide started a petition demanding Meta provide a better way to appeal disabled accounts.

As of early March 2026, that petition has garnered close to 60,000 signatures.  

Founder Brittany Watson-Smith believes A.I. and a lack of human review is behind some of the problems.

“We’re calling for transparency, accessible human support, and a fair appeals process when errors happen. People should be able to contact somebody,” Watson-Smith told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. “When access disappears without recourse, the impact is serious, and this can’t keep happening. It does seem like there are certain searches every few months where more people are being disabled than normal.”

Her own account was disabled, leaving her “distraught and confused” and leading her to form the nonprofit and call for action. 

“I was fortunate enough to get my account back within a couple weeks, but many users are not as lucky,” Watson-Smith said.

The office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown told WJZ Investigates that since the beginning of 2025, they have closed 156 complaints against Facebook and 269 complaints against Instagram, although those cases are not solely about people getting locked out of their accounts. 

Back in Harford County, Jenny Buschmann is still waiting to get back into her accounts and is still outraged over Meta’s allegations behind closing them.

“Even hearing those words, it gives me chills just because I know she’s a good kid and it’s—of all things to be accused of—it’s horrible.” 

Her daughter Cambree told WJZ, “It felt like a lost cause or a lost hope that I just wouldn’t get it back, but also I didn’t want to be accused of something I didn’t do.”

She just wants to return to posting her artwork and connecting with friends, but for now, she and her mom are left locked out and trying to fight back. 

Asked what she would tell Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg if given the chance, Cambree said, “I would just want to know how they came to the conclusion that I was doing something that they flagged or thought that I was doing wrong because I’m just in the dark, and I wish they had given me evidence or information or proof or something.”