<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Perth hairdresser and makeup artist Taryn Elliott woke up last Friday to a notification that felt like a punch to the gut. It wasn't a technical glitch; it was a character assassination by algorithm.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meta - the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram - had suddenly suspended both her personal and business accounts. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The reason given was both puzzling and appalling: a supposed violation of community standards regarding child sexual exploitation and nudity.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/maralago-shooting-us-secret-service-shoots-man-at-donald-trumps-florida-residence/46f8705e-f4dd-4894-979f-de682908e330"><strong><span>Gunman shot and killed at Trump's Florida residence</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm a mum, first off, so it almost feels like I've been defamed," Elliott said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In my head, I know I'm not that kind of person, so it's just weird and gross."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 45-year-old single mum has been a fixture of the Perth beauty scene for decades. Her "crime," she suspects, was simply doing her job during the peak school ball season.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/i-felt-defamed-the-perth-mum-and-business-owner-cancelled-by-metas-ai/2d86f7fd-dc91-4c13-a8a4-411ac938cfac" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After styling students for their special day, she follows a strict professional protocol: asking for permission from both the 17-year-old students and their mothers to post photos of her work.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elliott believes the last photo she posted, of a student and her boyfriend in their formal wear, sent to her by the girl's mother, may have been what was flagged by Meta, but she has no idea why.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I wrote to Meta and I said, 'Can you please explain what this is regarding, as I am very confused. I'm a makeup artist and I only post photos of my make-up work,'" she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elliott immediately followed Meta's automated instructions to lodge an appeal over the suspension, but told </span><a href="http://nine.com.au"><span>nine.com.au</span></a><span> she was yet to get a response five days later, despite being promised one within 48 hours.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Getting caught up in Meta's AI monitoring systems has become an increasingly perilous risk for small business owners, many of whom like Elliott rely on Facebook for clients to find them. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elliott said she was now a member of a WhatsApp group titled 'Perth businesses affected by Meta', alongside 14 other local entrepreneurs facing similar "wrongful" suspensions. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thousands of disgruntled Facebook users have flocked to forums on Reddit, calling for a class action lawsuit to be launched against Meta over account suspensions. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Most of the users commenting on Reddit express their despair and frustration over their inability to get any human support from Meta or have their accounts reinstated.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/welshpool-fire-fifteen-vehicles-destroyed-as-fire-rips-through-perth-mechanic-workshop/cb48958c-c0ee-4338-a714-36d18c3d8762"><strong><span>They dropped off cars to be fixed – now they're stuck in a crime scene</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A </span><a href="https://www.change.org/p/meta-wrongfully-disabling-accounts-with-no-human-customer-support" rel="" target="" title="change.org petition"><span>change.org petition</span></a><span> calling on Meta to recognise the problem as more than an "isolated glitch" has so far attracted more than 57,000 signatures.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While Meta previously hailed its AI as the "single most important improvement" in policing the platform, technology expert Trevor Long says the system has become a blunt instrument.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's good that they're cracking down on child pornography... but if it's going too far, they need to have recourse for people," Long recently told A Current Affair.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Long believes Meta is effectively pushing desperate business owners toward Meta Verified, a paid subscription costing anywhere from $20 to hundreds of dollars a month. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They're saying, if you don't pay us, we're not going to help you if you have problems. Without it, you're unlikely to ever speak with a human or get your account back."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After </span><a href="http://nine.com.au"><span>nine.com.au</span></a><span> contacted Meta, Elliott's Facebook account was reinstated.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A spokesperson said: "We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we've made a mistake."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elliott said the experience of falling into the  "black hole" of Meta's support system was eye-opening and extremely stressful.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The panic starts and you go to the worst-case scenario. I thought, I'm going to have to find a new career. I'm going to have to take [my son] out of his school," she said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My whole life started to change right in front of me, just by that one action from Meta."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To keep her business alive, Elliot was forced to spend $200 - money she says she "doesn't have to spare" amid the cost-of-living crisis - on an emergency text campaign to reach her client database.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><p><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via </span></strong><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></a><strong><span> and </span></strong><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1"><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></a></p></li><li><p><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by </span></strong><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w"><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></a><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span>Sign up to </span></strong><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>our breaking newsletter her</span></strong></a></p></li></ul></div></div>