Y Combinator President and CEO Garry Tan publicly called on Meta Platforms Inc. META employees to assist after journalist Stanley Roberts was banned from the platform despite identity verification attempts, highlighting systemic issues with the company’s automated enforcement systems.
What Happened: Journalist Stanley Roberts posted on X that Meta disabled his account with no appeal option available. “I can’t prove I’m Stanley Roberts. Me being told I’m not really me was never in my 2025 bingo cards,” Roberts wrote, sharing Meta’s message stating his account “doesn’t follow our Community Standards on account integrity.”
Roberts later reported receiving a scam attempt from someone claiming Meta employment, demanding $87 for an “ID reset license code” to restore account access.
The incident prompted Y Combinator’s Tan to post: “Followers who work at Meta Please help.”
The verification failure highlights ongoing issues with Meta’s automated systems. Meta's AI-driven advertising tools have been malfunctioning for months, leading to wasted ad spend and frustrated businesses.
Marketing leaders, including Karl Baker from Mindfulness Works, say Meta's lack of transparency and accountability regarding these performance problems is creating widespread uncertainty among advertisers.
See Also: Chinese Regulators Will Meet Tesla Rival BYD, Other Companies To Discuss ‘Zero Mile’ Used Cars: Report
Why It Matters: The incident underscores investor concerns about Meta’s automated infrastructure reliability across multiple product lines. Meta’s Advantage Plus advertising campaigns, promoted as “set it and forget it” solutions, have forced businesses to revert to manual campaigns after experiencing cost-per-impression rates three to four times higher than previous years.
These system failures occur as Meta faces regulatory pressure from the Federal Trade Commission's ongoing antitrust case and aggressive enforcement actions, including WhatsApp banning 7.9 million accounts in India during March 2024 alone.
Photo Courtesy: Skorzewiak on Shutterstock.com
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