Has anyone else experienced wrongful Instagram account deactivations because of manipulated DMs or false reports?
About a month ago, my Instagram account was suddenly deactivated for alleged “sexual solicitation,” even though I never sent any inappropriate or violating messages myself.
What actually happened was this:
I had an active ManyChat automation running in the background without realizing it was still enabled. A user received the automated opt-in message, then started sending sexual messages on their own. Shortly after, my account was immediately disabled.
I appealed the decision and my account was restored, which clearly shows there was no real violation from my side.
What makes this even more concerning is that a colleague experienced almost the exact same thing — and he wasn’t even using ManyChat. Someone asked him how to make money, he replied “By going to work,” and the user then suddenly sent a sexual message offering money for sex. Shortly after, his account was also deactivated. After appealing, his account got restored too.
This honestly makes the system seem very vulnerable to abuse and false reporting, especially for businesses and creators relying on Instagram professionally.
Has anyone else dealt with similar situations?
And does anyone know the best way to protect business accounts from automated bans like this in the future?
