Saskatoon creator cut off from 22,000 followers after sudden Facebook suspension

WATCH: A Saskatoon blogger says years of work disappeared in an instant when Facebook shut down her page and she lost her 22,000 followers.

A Saskatoon content creator says years of work may disappear after Facebook abruptly shut down her page and cut off her connection to 22,000 followers.

Ashlyn George has spent 13 years growing her online travel brand, The Lost Girl’s Guide to Finding the World. She says her full-time business has taken a hit after Facebook suspended her account on Nov. 7.

“It is really stressful. I do not know what is going to happen,” she said in an interview with CTV News.

Meta flagged her account for impersonation, but George says she does not know why, noting her content has been consistent and she was not impersonating anyone.She said when she tried to appeal, she was not allowed to submit any evidence and her appeal was denied a few minutes later.

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She says the page was restored twice and then removed again, and says that until she paid for verification she could only interact with AI support bots.

“It is very time-consuming. I am spending so much time trying to reach out to Meta to get a different response,” she said.

Her account is now on hold until Dec. 4.

“This is affecting three different revenue streams where I do earn money, and to have it down for a month, especially in quarter four, the busiest time of year, it is going to be a major impact on my business,” she said.

George is not alone. In recent months, several Canadians have reported that Meta-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram have removed or disabled their accounts without clear cause or a meaningful way to appeal.

A petition circulating online urging Meta to fix its AI system, restore wrongfully disabled accounts and provide human support has racked up nearly 50,000 signatures. It was launched by an organization called People Over Platforms.

“They wanted our lives on these digital platforms and now that is what we have. They should not have the right to immediately strip it away,” said Brittany Watson, founder of People Over Platforms.

CTV News reached out to Meta for comment and has received no response.

In the meantime, George is relying on her blog, email list and Instagram, but says she is constantly on edge, worried the same thing could happen again.

“While I can and will rebuild, there is a lack of confidence. What if my next account is taken down?”

George encourages others to back up their photos and videos in case they lose access to their accounts.