Meta AI Wrongly Accuses Teacher Of Child Exploitation, Restores Instagram After Public Pressure

Meta suspended a Canadian teacher’s Instagram over false abuse claims. AI moderation flagged her account, and only media attention reversed the decision.

A high school teacher in Vaughan, Ontario, had her Instagram account suspended after Meta wrongly accused her of posting content related to “child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity.”

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

The history teacher, Conte, lost access to her personal photos, business contacts, and creative work spanning 15 years. Conte tried multiple times to fix the problem through Meta’s help system, she also tried paying to verify her mother’s account in hopes of reaching a real person. Conte only had her account restored after CBC Toronto contacted Meta.

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

CBC reports that Tech analyst Carmi Levy says Meta relies heavily on AI to moderate billions of users, but warns, “It is automation run amok.” He added, “With over three billion regular users of these platforms, there’s no way that Meta could hire enough people […] Automation is the only way they can make this scale.”

Brittany Watson of Peterborough, Ontario, started a petition after her own wrongful suspension. “Social media isn’t just social media anymore. It’s now part of daily lives,” she said. Her petition has over 34,000 signatures, as reported by CBC.

Conte said, “The accusation is horrifying, offensive and completely false […] It feels like a kind of identity theft.” Although she recovered her account, she continues to worry about other users encountering similar problems and not receiving assistance or clarification.