Last week, an aesthetician who is a client of mine lost their entire Instagram business page with no warning or explanation. One morning, they simply couldn't access their account anymore. Years of photos, followers, engagement and brand presence - gone in an instant.
Unfortunately, this client's story is not unique. Instagram and other social platforms often fail to provide protections, transparency, or recourse for small businesses that depend on them. Despite helping businesses grow, Instagram can also arbitrarily remove accounts without notice. This leaves small business owners frustrated and powerless when their livelihoods depend on these platforms. Which oftentimes, it does.
The Problem of Arbitrary Account Shutdowns on Instagram
Instagram has developed a worrying pattern of abruptly shutting down accounts without warning or explanation. This issue seems to disproportionately impact small businesses who have invested significant time and resources into building their brand presence on Instagram.
According to a 2021 survey, over 80% of small business Instagram users have experienced an arbitrary account shutdown. The shutdowns can happen instantaneously, with business owners completely locked out of their accounts. All of their content, followers, engagement history, and brand identity vanishes. These things take years of consistency to build up.
For the thousands of entrepreneurs, artists, and small business owners who rely on Instagram, an inexplicable account deletion can be devastating. Instagram is incredibly opaque about their protocols for shutting down accounts. Some speculate it could be related to using certain words or phrases in captions and comments, even unintentionally. Businesses have no way to appeal or get clarity on what caused the shutdown.
Losing access to an Instagram account that had thousands of followers, posts, and engagement can completely upend a small business. It severs their connection with customers and erases their digital presence. Many businesses have invested years into building their brand on Instagram only to have it wiped out arbitrarily. They are often forced to start over from scratch without understanding what rules were broken on their original account.
The threat of sudden account termination looms over small businesses on Instagram. And unfortunately, there is little recourse or protections for those impacted by the platform's opaque policies. This underscores the risks of building a brand solely on a platform one does not own or control.
Lack of Recourse for Deleted Accounts
When an Instagram account is deleted or disabled, whether by mistake or intentionally, the process to appeal it is extremely difficult for account owners.
Instagram has no phone number or email for users to directly contact in these cases. The only recourse is to fill out an online form and hope for the best. However, users typically receive an automated message stating that Instagram's decision is final. There is no way to speak to a human or further explain your case.
This is in clear contrast to other major platforms like Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, users can request a review of disabled accounts and speak to a member of the Integrity team. Twitter has forms users can fill out and provides an email for appeals.
For Instagram, once an account is gone, it seems to be gone for good. Users have no reliable way to recover their accounts, even if a mistake was made or they did nothing wrong.
Potential Causes of Account Shutdowns
There are several potential reasons that Instagram accounts may get shut down. One major factor is bot activity and fake accounts. Instagram utilizes bots and algorithms to detect spam, fake accounts, and other policy violations. However, these automated systems can sometimes flag legitimate accounts by mistake.
Another reason accounts get removed is due to alleged trademark or intellectual property violations. If your content or username includes a trademarked term or image, Instagram may remove your account at the request of the trademark holder, even if your usage was referring to something different. Small businesses with common names may get caught up in trademark disputes.
Overall, while social platforms need rules to keep their users safe, critics argue the automated systems lack nuance. Accounts can be permanently removed without warning, recourse, or a chance to appeal. This leaves many small businesses frustrated when their livelihood disappears overnight. More transparency and a robust appeals process could help address these concerns.
Impact on Small Businesses
Many small businesses and entrepreneurs rely on Instagram as a crucial platform for marketing, sales, and connecting with customers. Unlike large corporations, these small businesses often do not have the resources or brand recognition to thrive without leveraging social media. For them, an unexpected Instagram account shutdown can completely destroy their brand, reputation, and even livelihood.
Without warning, years of effort building an audience and community on Instagram can vanish. The customers and followers they've worked so hard to obtain will disappear. New potential customers won't be able to find them or view their products and content. Any existing sales funnels or marketing campaigns are halted in their tracks. The damage to the business, both financial and reputational, can be catastrophic and permanent.
For a small business that depends heavily on Instagram for reaching customers, an unjustified account termination is incredibly demoralizing and difficult to recover from. Many entrepreneurs have had their dreams ended and careers upended due to arbitrary decisions by Instagram's systems and policies. There are few ways for these businesses to appeal shutdowns or reclaim what they've lost when their account is gone.
Even short temporary shutdowns can be hugely detrimental, leading to lost income and momentum. But without the protections afforded to larger advertisers and corporate accounts, small businesses remain especially vulnerable to impactful and irrevocable account terminations. The lack of transparency and recourse from Instagram's systems disproportionately harms the individuals and businesses who can least afford it.
Calls for Change
Recent events have prompted calls for Instagram to reform its practices around account suspensions and content flagging. Despite Instagram's popularity among small businesses and creators, many feel the platform lacks transparency and accountability when making these impactful decisions.
Public criticisms and campaigns have urged Instagram to implement an appeals process for suspended accounts, allow for human reviews of flagged content, and provide more clarity around what specific terms or actions resulted in account or content restrictions.
Advocacy groups argue that Instagram's current policies and processes unfairly harm small business owners who have invested significant time and resources building their brand on the platform. Some have called for regulations requiring social media platforms to establish due process around restricting accounts, such as providing detailed reasons for suspensions and allowing users to contest decisions.
Without reform, some small business advocates warn that entrepreneurs will lose trust in building their livelihoods atop privately-owned social media sites like Instagram where they have little recourse if their account is suddenly deleted. They argue Instagram has a responsibility to provide more robust protections for these users who rely on the platform.
Overall, pressure is mounting for Instagram to reform its account restriction processes with more transparency, accountability, and rights of appeal for its business & creator community. Critics contend this would allow the platform to better balance its interests with those of users who depend on Instagram.
Tips for Businesses
Small businesses need to be extra careful when promoting themselves on Instagram to avoid account shutdowns. Here are some tips:
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Avoid using trademarked terms, images or logos in your posts without permission. Do your research to make sure you aren't infringing on copyrights or trademarks.
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Don't use bots or services to artificially inflate your follower count. Grow your account organically. Suspicious growth could trigger an automatic shutdown.
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Be transparent in your promotions. Use #ad or #sponsored to properly disclose paid partnerships. Don't try to mislead users.
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Carefully consider the images and videos you post. Avoid nudity, graphic violence or illegal content as these will likely result in immediate shutdown.
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Read Instagram's terms of service and community guidelines. Stay up to date on any policy changes.
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Diversify your social media presence across multiple platforms. Don't rely solely on Instagram for your business.
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Contact Instagram if you believe your account was wrongly shut down. Be polite but firm in asking for a review of their decision. Provide context on why the shutdown does not align with their policies.
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Consider legal options if Instagram refuses to work with you. Consult an attorney experienced in social media law.
Following these tips can help protect small businesses from arbitrary or unfair account terminations on Instagram. But ultimately, businesses are at the mercy of Instagram's policies and enforcement mechanisms.
Conclusion
There is currently very little recourse for these small businesses, many of whom rely heavily on Instagram for their livelihood. The platform provides minimal protections despite the tremendous power it wields over businesses' success.
While the causes behind inappropriate takedowns remain unclear, the impact on small business owners is very real. Livelihoods built over years can be destroyed overnight.
There is an urgent need for Instagram to reform its policies and provide stronger protections for small businesses. The platform must balance the interests of all parties, from users to advertisers to creators. Without meaningful change, small business owners will continue to face unnecessary uncertainty and risk.
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