Minister for Small Businesses Chris Penk intervened to engage with Meta in seeking a human-driven solution after reports emerged that Facebook and Instagram accounts of small businesses in New Zealand were wrongfully suspended.
According to reports, more than 30 New Zealanders and small businesses had their accounts suspended following accusations of violating Meta’s rules, including allegations of sharing child exploitation material.
Many have reported feeling stonewalled when trying to appeal through Meta’s existing system, frequently encountering AI chatbots.
A petition calling for Meta to be held accountable was launched, with 40,000 people worldwide signing it.
Penk said he requested a meeting with Meta a few weeks ago and has since met with two senior officers—one based in New Zealand and another responsible for overseeing operations in New Zealand and Australia.
He said Meta “acknowledged that the net has been cast too wide, while they want to capture those who have genuinely harmful content, for example, child exploitation material.”
“They know that there are innocent parties caught up in account closures and suspensions, so for that reason they know that they need to refine their model, which is based on AI or machine learning approach.”
Although Meta has not given him exact figures on the extent of the wrongful suspensions, Penk said the company has admitted to suspending more accounts than it should have.
Following the meeting, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) established an inbox where small businesses can submit their cases. Those affected can email small.business@mbie.govt.nz, and the messages will be forwarded to Meta for review and potential reinstatement.
Penk said he obtained assurances from Meta that these cases will be reviewed by humans.
“The socially responsible attitude of a platform such as Meta is to seek to put right the wrongs, and I’m hopeful that’s exactly what’s taking place with this new avenue, but time will tell,” he said.
Penk acknowledged that individual users have also been affected, but he said the new dedicated inbox is currently limited to small businesses.