Brady Morton was preparing for a major work trip and an Australian Financial Review profile when Instagram suddenly accused him of child sexual exploitation and permanently banned his account.

“I don’t engage in anything like that,” the Melbourne digital marketing entrepreneur told this masthead. “My Instagram’s solely for lifestyle and travel. I’m not even a big poster.”

Morton’s agency, Uleads, spends between $7 million and $10 million annually on Meta advertising, yet when his personal account was wrongly flagged, he discovered the tech giant’s support systems were essentially useless. “It’s woeful,” he said. “You just get nowhere, and then they’ll close your chat.”

“I’ve been working directly with Meta’s escalations team for weeks, but the process has been extremely slow and I still haven’t been given a clear outcome or time frame.”

His experience isn’t isolated. Sydney entrepreneur Aprille Lim had four of her business accounts – including Seaquatix Waterproof Cases and Model Street modelling school – suspended at 2am on Saturday, November 29, just hours before planned marketing events.

“This one weekend was really crucial for my businesses,” Lim said. Seaquatix was sponsoring a five-kilometre foam festival with 5000 attendees, while Model Street was hosting its first anniversary party with up to 100 influencers.

Both were flagged for child exploitation content, though neither had posted material that violated Meta’s policies. Lim’s accounts have since been restored but with limited functionality, while Morton’s remains suspended.

The cases come as new data from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) shows more than 1500 Australians have complained about social media and digital platforms since 2023, with complaints rising 30 per cent in 2024.

Account access issues including blocks and bans account for 36 per cent of complaints, the largest single category. Seventy-one per cent of disputes involve major tech companies including Meta, Google, Microsoft, Apple and streaming service Hubbl.

“When someone is accidentally locked out of their social media or cloud storage account, and the platform is not responding, there’s nowhere for them to go,” TIO Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said.

The timing coincides with Australia’s under-16 social media ban taking effect on December 10, with Meta set to begin removing teenage users from Thursday. The enforcement relies partly on the same AI systems flagging innocent users.

Morton said his account – @bradymortonnn – was initially reinstated with an apology, then permanently disabled again hours later for the same alleged violation. He paid for “Meta Verified” to access support but made little progress.

A Meta representative confirmed with Morton there were no children involved in his case, yet the ban remained in place.

The timing proved particularly costly: The Australian Financial Review recently profiled Morton’s business as part of its “Fast 100” list, generating significant interest, but he was unable to capitalise on the exposure.

“The AFR feature created strong traction for my business, but without access to Instagram or any Meta platforms, I haven’t been able to capitalise on that momentum, which has been quite challenging,” he said.

“The delay has had a real effect on my earnings and exposure.”

Lim said the suspension meant “a massive loss of brand visibility for two events which we can’t get back, as well as losing the opportunity to connect with new customers and potential sales leads”.

“As an influencer, content creator, and business owner, I rely on these platforms for brand collaborations, ongoing commercial commitments, marketing obligations, and building brand exposure,” she said.

Meta uses a combination of people and technology to identify accounts that violate its policies, and publishes data about content removals and appeals in its Community Standards Enforcement Report. The company says it is constantly working to improve enforcement systems.

“We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we’ve made a mistake,” a Meta spokesperson said.

However, the company acknowledged no system is perfect, and says it provides appeal processes for users who believe content was removed incorrectly.

The TIO is calling for the Australian government to expand its mandate to handle digital platform complaints alongside telecommunications issues.

“To support government reforms such as the under-16s social media ban and digital duty of care, it’s more important than ever that people have appeal rights when digital platforms get things wrong,” Gebert said.

“Big tech companies have the resources to improve the way they handle complaints, but without stronger digital consumer protections – including an external body to resolve disputes – everyday people are left feeling confused and powerless.”

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