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Meta Suspends Accounts: Taiwanese 'Goddess' Outraged After Being Labeled Underage

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Meta's Threads platform experienced an unannounced account suspension event, affecting numerous influencers and public figures in Taiwan.
  • Users reported accounts were suspended for reasons including being falsely identified as underage, despite identity verification and premium subscriptions.
  • Meta acknowledged a technical error caused by an automated review system, leading to incorrect age classifications and suspensions, and is working to resolve the issue.

Social media users in Taiwan are outraged after Meta's Threads platform suspended numerous accounts without warning. Influencers, political commentators, and public figures reported their accounts were suddenly restricted or inaccessible. Among those affected were commentator Wu Jing-yi, influencer Ba Jiong, and former legislator Chen Po-wei.

Some users revealed that Meta's official reason for suspension was that they were underage, specifically under 13 years old. This explanation baffled many, especially those who had recently completed identity verification or purchased premium features like the blue checkmark. Internet celebrity Hsu Pi, known as the "Taiwanese faction goddess," expressed her frustration, stating that three of her accounts were suspended on May 22nd. Even after regaining access, her account reach plummeted, making it seem as if the account no longer existed.

What is this, I did identity verification and bought a blue checkmark on May 22nd! My IG doesn't have political content! This is too outrageous, Meta!

— Xu BiXu Bi, a Taiwanese internet celebrity, expressed her anger on social media after her accounts were suspended.

Meta issued a statement acknowledging a technical error. A spokesperson confirmed that a small number of Threads accounts in Taiwan were mistakenly flagged as belonging to users under 13. The company attributed the issue to an automated review system and stated they are actively working on a fix. Meta explained that its platform requires users to be at least 13 years old and has protective measures for younger users, which can sometimes lead to misclassifications even for adults.

The company emphasized that while they use both automated systems and human review to detect and remove violations, misjudgments can occur. Meta has an appeal and review process to correct such errors and assured that accounts wrongly suspended would be restored.

Due to a technical error, a small number of accounts were mistakenly identified as users under 13 years old. We are actively addressing and fixing this as quickly as possible.

— Meta spokespersonMeta acknowledged the issue in a formal statement regarding the Threads account suspensions in Taiwan.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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