Disabled for 'child sexual exploitation' and I teach 3rd grade. I feel sick

Kris in Ohio2025-11-04 02:40 UTC3,870 views

I don't even know where to start. Saturday morning I opened Instagram to post a pic from our class pumpkin patch trip (no kids faces, I never post students, district rules) and it logged me out. When I logged back in it said my account was disabled for child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity. Facebook went at the exact same time because they're linked in Accounts Center. I hit disagree and wrote a calm explanation. About 20 minutes later: we reviewed your account and it doesn't follow our Community Standards. Now it says permanently disabled. There is NOTHING like that on my account. My garden, my dog, hiking, a few bulletin boards from my classroom. I keep going over every photo in my head trying to figure out what they think they saw. The part that's scaring me most is just the words themselves. What if this gets flagged somewhere outside Instagram? Do I need to tell my principal? Is someone going to show up at my door?? I haven't slept. If anyone's been through this please tell me what you did. I'm in Ohio if that matters.

Edit

10 comments

Tony G2025-11-04 03:15 UTC
Same thing happened to me in August. I coach youth soccer. I know it feels like the end of the world but from everything I've read these are automated flags and it's been hitting a lot of people since the summer. Nobody I know who got this notice has had any contact from police. Breathe.
jen.r2025-11-04 04:02 UTC
Screenshot EVERYTHING right now. The notice, the date, the review unsuccessful message, the emails. If the account gets deleted later you'll want proof of what they told you and when.
Kris in Ohio2025-11-04 11:30 UTC
Thank you both. I did screenshot it all. @Tony G did you tell your league? I'm so torn on whether to tell my principal first so it doesn't look like I'm hiding something
1. Marcus T2025-11-04 15:44 UTC
  Not a lawyer, but personally I'd give someone you trust at work a short heads up in writing, just so there's a record you raised it yourself. Keep it boring: my accounts were disabled by an automated system, I've appealed, there's nothing to it. Don't over explain.
2. Tony G2025-11-04 22:10 UTC
  I told my league director. She'd already seen a news story about this so she was totally fine. People are more aware of it than you'd think.
dana_writes2025-11-06 01:20 UTC
There's a petition going around about wrongful disables and no human support. Doesn't fix anything but I signed it and it made me feel a tiny bit less helpless lol
Kris in Ohio2025-11-09 19:05 UTC
Small update in case anyone lands here from google. Told my principal on friday, she was really kind about it. Accounts still gone. The request another review button is grayed out now.
Ben H2025-11-12 02:30 UTC
Someone told me to buy Meta Verified on a second account to get chat support. Has anyone tried that for a CSE one specifically?
1. jen.r2025-11-12 13:48 UTC
  @Ben H my husband did it for me. Agent was polite but said they can't do anything about disabled accounts, especially this category. Some people say it worked for them though, ymmv.
Anonymous2025-12-02 03:00 UTC
Commenting so I can find this again. Exact same thing, school photographer in PA, day 9. You're not alone Kris.