When Facebook recently announced it had banned over 2 billion accounts in the first quarter of 2019, it was universally hailed as a positive move. After all, the vast majority of these accounts belonged to bad actors ranging from cybercriminals to everyday spammers. However, according to a report from Elliott Advocacy this week, some regular people may have been caught up in the purge, too.

The consumer advocacy nonprofit relayed the story of a Facebook user named Jason Birch, who found himself permanently banned from Facebook after he accidentally sent a partially nude photo over Facebook Messenger. Even though he thought his message was private, Facebook’s AI detected the image, and he has been begging the site to reinstate his profile ever since.

I don’t use Facebook for porn. All I use it for is to keep in contact with friends and family,” Birch wrote to the social media giant. “I’ve had this account since my teen years and want to get all my photos and memories back. I also have several family members that I can only get in contact with through Facebook. This has been such a stressful five months. It was an accident and it won’t happen again.”

However, Facebook has been unwavering in its stance, and refuses to reinstate him. And as experts point out, this is within the company’s rights. As strict as it may seem, Facebook can enforce its rules any way that it wants. In other words, be extra careful what you share on the platform. Because once you’ve been banned, it’s almost impossible to reverse.

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