Reports from users of the platforms are pouring in Instagram And Threads who claim they were banned without any real reason. All this would be due to an error in the algorithms, which would be literally decimating numerous profiles and without just cause. In short, the automatic moderation system would have gone haywire, and Adam Mosseri himself, head of the two social networks, would have intervened to try to restore calm and assure that his team is looking for a solution.
In fact it is something incredible, because it seems that i ban they arrive for reasons that are trivial and absurd to say the least. The actor Jorge Caballero, for example, said he was struck by fact checking for simply addressing political issues in some of his posts. Then there are users who have reported being “punished” for speaking or sharing posts about Hurricane Milton, the storm that hit Florida. As if that wasn’t enough, it seems that just writing the word “cracker” – which in the United States is also used as an insult – is enough to have the post deleted. There have been so many bans related to the word “cracker”, especially on Threads, that the matter has now been dubbed “crackergate”.
The famous algorithms who is now entrusted with most of the checks on social media would also be having problems in verifying age. There are stories of angry users who have had their profiles closed because they were identified as under 13 years of age, when in fact this is not the case. Another obvious mistake that left the users of the platforms stunned to say the least. But it doesn’t end here. Because after proving their own ageby presenting the identification document, these users did not get their account back. And if having a profile closed isn’t nice, think about how users whose profiles used for work have been banned may have fared. There was a page dedicated to the promotion and sale of video games which saw many of its posts removed as spam.
In short, a situation bordering on the absurd. The algorithms seem to have gone crazy, and Instagram and Threads users are losing patience.
But what is happening? Why all these errors? For the moment there are no answers. We only know that Meta has opened an investigation and that the technical team is at work. Those who use these platforms can only hope and be patient.