What can I do if I’ve been locked out of my social media account?

Social media platforms often use automated technologies to find and take down material that they believe goes against their community guidelines. Sometimes, this can mean people’s personal and/or business accounts are wrongly locked.

For example, a common reason an account may be taken down is because the automated technology thinks you have posted Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM, also sometimes known as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)). 

If this has happened to your social media account, you may be able to appeal that decision with the social media platform provider, depending on the reason why the account was locked. Look at the reasons the social media platform has sent you to let you know they’ve locked your account and see if there’s a link to an appeal process. If not, have a look at their website for more information about appeal processes.

If you’re a small business and your business account has been locked, the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) has set up an email address for people to contact. You can contact them at small.business@mbie.govt.nz

Can OPC investigate this issue?

It’s very unlikely to be something the Privacy Commissioner can help with.

If you’ve already tried to appeal the decision, and your account is permanently banned, this is not something we are able to investigate. 
If you suspect your account has been hacked, and the social media platform cannot work out who the true account holder is, it may block the account and give you the option of opening a new one. This is not something we’re able to help make a decision on.

However, there are some extra steps you might be able to take, to appeal a ban, and to protect your accounts in future.

Request a copy of your information

The social media platform may offer a ‘download your data’ option if it warns you of a suspension. We recommend you use that option if you want access to the information on the account. After your account is suspended, it may be difficult to access your information again, and it might be deleted later.

It’s important to understand that if you have an account with end-to-end encryption, the social media platform is unlikely to be able to give you an unencrypted copy of that information, because the personal information it holds will be encrypted.

If you haven’t downloaded your data before your account was suspended, you still have the right to request access to this information by making an access request. You can use the AboutMe tool on our website to request your personal information.

If you have requested your personal information from the social media platform and they haven’t provided it, you can complain to our office but only if you have already complained to the company.

Read more:

• Information about your privacy rights
• Can I complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner that an agency didn’t do a good job when I asked for access (or correction) to my personal information?(external link)
• Will the Privacy Commissioner issue an access direction for all access request complaints?(external link)

Contact the social media platform

Many social media platforms use online forms rather than phone or email to communicate work with users. Make sure you check the social media platform’s privacy policy to see if there is an email address you can use to make a request for information.

Secure your accounts

Choose your social media accounts carefully. If you’re storing data online, think about having a backup for that so if you lose access to your online storage or cloud account you can still access your photos and documents.

Make sure you have good security on your accounts. For example, use a long and strong password that is unique to that account, use two-factor or multi-factor authentication to access your accounts, and have a secure recovery account.

Review the community guidelines

It’s important to review any community guidelines carefully before posting information. 

For example, a social media platform may remove posts that contain certain imagery of children, even if they’re not considered CSEM/CSAM. Many social media platforms are aware of the risk of misuse of these images, where someone may take an image and make changes to it.

We encourage people to carefully consider where and how they safely share images of children online, if they decide to do so. 

Updated November 2025