HACKER Q&A
📣 milanspeaks

Can I take Meta to court for banning business Insta or FB account?


Let's say I spend a considerable amount of money in Meta ads.

I have followed all ruled but some automated system assume that I have done something wrong and automatically banned me.

Now I understand that such systems exist to prevent bad actors. But outright banning a business that is spending money on your platform is a violation of customer service rules.

There has to be a proper customer service channel.

In real world, I don't know of any other business that bans the account and there is no customer support available.


  👤 Bender Accepted Answer ✓
I would suggest talking to a lawyer about this and not HN. There are lawyers on here but you have no way to verify who is really a lawyer and you miss out on attorney client privs. Try to find lawyers that specialize in internet fraud.

👤 dragonwriter
This might be breach of contract, fraud, or violation of some more jurisdiction-specific business law, but you really need to talk to a lawyer about the specific details of your case to get advice on the legalities and your options and the prospects of each in pursuing a remedy.

👤 baigy
You could start an online campaign to put together other aggrieved parties and prepare for a class action lawsuit. There are several reasons (time, commitment, money, opportunity cost, improbability of it all) because of which you may not end up making it happen. But sure, it's a potential step you can take.

👤 droid16
IANAL but,

- Can you sue? It's America you can sue anyone for anything.

- You will have to prove material harm to your business.

- You will also have to prove you tried your best to contact them and mitigate the situation.

- If you agreed to the ToS then without question there's some clause that says "you can't blame us if something goes wrong" which is obviously not going to help your case (this being the single reason you probably won't succeed).

- I think you'd have to prove objectively you did nothing to violate the ToS, you tried in good faith to make them aware of the mistake, and that the mistake is causing material harm to your business.

As others mentioned. Talk to a lawyer.