Thousands of Instagram accounts suspended for unclear reasons

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Thousands of Instagram accounts suspended for unclear reasons

Published: 06 Jun. 2025, 12:34 Updated: 06 Jun. 2025, 14:39

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Instagram logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Thousands of Instagram users woke up this week to find their accounts abruptly suspended — and no clear explanation as to why.

A wave of sudden deactivations has been causing confusion among users, with reports growing since the end of May.

According to sources in the information and communications technology sector on Thursday, many users have received notifications from Instagram citing violations of the platform’s community guidelines, such as account integrity. The notices warned that accounts would be permanently disabled if users do not request a review within 180 days.

In some cases, associated accounts on other Meta platforms, including Facebook and Threads, were also suspended simultaneously.

A post on an online forum claimed that the suspensions began late last month and surged between Tuesday and Wednesday.

As confusion spread, a KakaoTalk open chat room was set up by affected users. By 6 p.m. on Thursday, over 1,000 people had joined.

International forums such as Reddit also saw complaints from users who said their accounts were suspended for similar reasons.

Speculation is mounting over the cause of the suspensions. Some have suggested a glitch in Meta’s content moderation AI, while others argue the action was justified under Instagram’s policies targeting content related to terrorism or child exploitation.

“We are currently investigating the issue, so it is difficult to provide a clear response,” a Meta Korea spokesperson said.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]