Woman loses 20 years of digital memories after Meta deletes her accounts

Date:
Thu, 01 Oct 2026 22:30:00 +0000

Description:
A woman lost 20 years of memories after Meta permanently closed her account and blocked any appeal.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Meta closed a womans Facebook and Instagram accounts with no warning The closed accounts contained 20 years worth of digital memories The woman couldnt contact a human and was forced to use AI chatbots What would you do if you lost your Facebook and Instagram accounts along with all of the photos, posts, and memories they contained? Thats the prospect faced by one unfortunate woman a situation made even
worse by the actions of Metas AI chatbots .

When Jasmine Ault checked her phone in the middle of the night, she was greeted by a notification saying her Facebook and Instagram accounts had been permanently disabled, taking 20 years of personal data and contacts with
them. Ault attempted to contact Meta to rectify the situation, but found herself passed from pillar to post and unable to secure a resolution. In
fact, Ault found herself completely shut out by Metas customer service and could only talk to an AI chatbot that couldn't fix it. Even after paying for expedited service, Ault was unable to get through to a human. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

It feels like Ive lost everything in a metaphorical fire with my digital albums and my digital memories, Ault told CBC News . And whos going to
protect those if I can only speak to AI?

Ault appealed the ban but says she received a summary judgment just minutes later declaring that her case had been closed and that there was no possibility of any further appeals. And with that, she had seemingly run out of options. You may like The Meta Muse AI agent just revealed a private address without permission Microsoft deleted one mans hacked OneDrive with 25 years of media Meta Muse could read your private messages without permission, report finds An opaque, uncaring system (Image credit: Shutterstock / mundissima) This isnt the first time weve seen a case like this. Social media is awash with reports of people being erroneously banned from Metas platforms without any means of recourse theres even a dedicated subreddit for it.

With Meta rolling out AI across its platforms , its likely that situations like this will continue. Many people have accused AI moderation tools of incorrectly flagging users accounts, which might be one cause of the
distress. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Part of the problem is the opaqueness of Metas actions. While Ault received a message saying her account was banned for breaking the platforms rules, she was never informed which specific rules had been broken or how. She told CBC that she stayed awake for 26 hours straight in an attempt to restore her accounts and all the memories contained therein back to working order.

Yet Ault has been unable to resolve the situation. Speaking to CBC, she said it feels almost sick to me that they just think, like, We can just shut these peoples accounts down, they cant get through to us and talk to us, and its peoples lifelines. Its peoples memories. Its peoples everything.

If youre concerned something similar might happen to you, it would be worth downloading your Facebook and Instagram data so that you have a backup. You never know when Meta might send everything to the digital incinerator and leave you stuck with an unsympathetic AI chatbot. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. The best laptops for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best laptops 1. Best overall: Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5 2. Best budget: Apple MacBook Neo 3. Best Windows 11 laptop Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch 4. Best thin and light: Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 5. Best Ultrabook Asus Zenbook S 16



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/social-media/it-feels-almost-sick-to-me-me ta-deleted-20-years-of-memories-belonging-to-one-woman-then-its-ai-closed-her- case-without-letting-her-appeal


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)