'Instagram wrongly suspended my account for a deeply offensive reason'

Exclusive: “I’ve been accused of something that I was a victim of when I was a kid." Warning: Distressing content. 

Every morning Erika Cramer’s two sons ask her the same question. 

“Mummy, did you get your Instagram back yet?”

For the Melbourne-based business owner and mental health advocate, her account was more than a social media page. It was her livelihood, her connection to community and her mission.

Then, overnight, it vanished.

Erika says her instagram account was wrongly suspended for 'child exploitation.' Image: Supplied

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“It’s just really crap that it’s not taken seriously." 

“I cried for three days. It was like some mourning happening, but I wasn’t crying because like, 'oh boohoo, I don’t have Instagram'. It’s what that platform means,” Erika told Kidspot.

Perhaps the cruelest sting is in the ‘why.’ 

Erika’s childhood wasn’t easy.  She grew up in America, before she eventually called Australia home.

“There was a lot I had to survive,” she said. 

By the age of nine, she had already endured multiple forms of abuse. 

So when she discovered her Instagram account had been flagged for ‘child exploitation’ the irony was devastating.

“I’ve been accused of something that I was a victim of when I was a kid,” she said. 

“It’s just really crap that it’s not taken seriously. That a woman of colour, who is a victim, an abuse survivor, is being called out for that.” 

Upon learning of the removal, Erika contacted Meta immediately. She has staff to pay, women who rely on her platform for support, and it’s an account she built from the ground up in the earliest, rawest days of motherhood. 

"I love that I get to talk to people there. I love that I get to support my women there. I connect with them,” she said. 

“I have women in my DMs that are sending me big old stories about abuse and domestic violence and all kinds of things.”  

The deletion wasn’t just a glitch. It silenced her voice and the voices of those who trusted her.

“I feel like the life I lived and all the pain I went through, I feel my—my life’s mission literally is to be of service now and share,” she said. 

"I know the impact of the work and then to have your impact stifled and literally stopped -  it hurts so bad.” 

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Her followers were outraged too.

“They're all angry as well. Our voices cannot be silenced,” she said. 

Despite submitting all required information to Meta, Erika says she felt dismissed.

“Apparently there’s a backlog and they said there’s a lot of appeals happening at the moment… but I’m like, what is going on?” She questioned. 

Meta advised it could take up to two weeks to resolve her appeal. Erika says that wasn’t good enough.

"It's so nonchalant for them. Like it could be two weeks? Okay... Two weeks to let child exploitative people be on your platform,” she said.

She found it unsettling that Meta, despite the severity of the false accusation didn’t seem to delay providing a human to review such serious complaints.

“Child exploitation and like sex offenses and violence should go straight to a person, should go to the top,” she said. 

“"Like what would happen if this was a real creep?” 

Erika contacted Meta to try and get some answers. Image: Supplied

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Yesterday afternoon, Erika got the message she had been waiting for. Her account was restored, but she says the impact lingers.

“I still have a slight shadow ban. People can’t find me by typing my name like they could before,” she said.

Kidspot contacted Meta for comment, but they have not responded at the point of publication.

Originally published as 'Instagram wrongly suspended my account for a deeply offensive reason'