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On December 22 of last year, an unsettling email arrived in his inbox, leaving him in shock.
The message informed him that his account had been suspended for allegedly violating Meta’s community guidelines related to child sexual exploitation, abuse, or nudity.
Speaking to nine.com.au, he expressed his disbelief, stating, “I know personally that it’s just a total error.”
The experience was profoundly disturbing for him, as he described, “To have that accusation thrown around, it’s a pretty sickening feeling.”
What made the situation even more perplexing was that the account in question had no connection to children whatsoever.
Zimmer used the account to advertise his coaching, training and nutrition services and exclusively posted health and fitness content.
The last thing he posted before the suspension was a video about supplements.
Confused as to how his account got suspended for child exploitation, Zimmer followed Meta’s automated instructions to appeal the suspension.
Five minutes later he got an email saying his account had been reviewed and permanently disabled.
Since then, he’s spent about $3000 trying to get it reinstated.
Zimmer paid for multiple Meta Verified subscriptions on his relatives’ Facebook accounts in a bid to contact Meta, which can be difficult.
Meta Verified accounts start at $20 per month and receive 24/7 access to email or chat agent support.
Technology expert Trevor Long believes Meta’s lack of human support services effectively pushes business owners like Zimmer to pay for Meta Verified for help.
“They’re saying, if you don’t pay us, we’re not going to help you if you have problems,” Long recently told A Current Affair.
“Without it, you’re unlikely to ever speak with a human or get your account back.”
But the agents Zimmer spoke with couldn’t help, nor could they provide him with evidence of the content on his account that had violated community standards.
”They just say they can’t see anything from their end and they’re not able to take it further,” he claimed.
Desperate, he paid cybersecurity companies to investigate the issue but said it went nowhere.
Over the two months his account was suspended, Zimmer estimated he lost close to $50,000 in earnings.
January is one of the most lucrative months for fitness businesses but without Instagram he struggled to bring in new clients.
”I’ve probably only landed one or two clients since this all happened,” he confessed.
“With Instagram over the last few years, it was three or five new ones come through a week. I was at max capacity.”
After nine.com.au contacted Meta, Zimmer’s account was reinstated.
“We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we’ve made a mistake,” a Meta spokesperson told nine.com.au.
Zimmer was relieved to have his account back but said his experience is not an isolated glitch.
He’s one of a growing number of small business owners who claim their accounts have been wrongfully suspended by Meta’s AI monitoring system.
“I think this is happening to a lot more people than we realise,” he said.
“Which is a scary thing.”
Like Zimmer, Elliott was accused of violating child sexual exploitation and nudity rules. She denied it.
Like Zimmer, Elliott’s account was reinstated after nine.com.au contacted Meta.
But thousands of frustrated users are still in strife and not all of them can speak to a journalist.
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