MG Siegler, writing at Spyglass:
Yes, that’s right, for a third time in as many years, I’ve been
banned by Meta. What for? Do you really have to ask? Nobody
knows. My suspicion is that it’s directly tied to the
claiming of usernames on WhatsApp, which Meta opened up
yesterday. After I claimed mine, it seemingly logged me out
of my other active instances. And when I went to log back in…
boom.mg-3 Banned.No explanation. No warning. Just a note that “This account can no
longer use WhatsApp.” As with Instagram and Facebook, you can
submit a review of the ban and they say they’ll look at it and let
you know within 24 hours — but no promises. When I did this the
first go-around with Instagram, I actually lost the appeal. Why?
Nobody knows. Again, it took a personal plea. And I’m
insanely lucky to be able to do that. As my replies then and now
can attest, many are not so lucky. Many are just banned and never
heard from again. At least on those services.This is bullshit. How do I know this is bullshit? Because it
literally happened to me! And, in fact, keeps happening to me!
And I’ll get it fixed again because I just so happen to know
people, which is arguably worse bullshit!
MG lives in the U.K. and thus needs WhatsApp for many aspects of daily life. I have never seen the appeal of WhatsApp, and would rank iMessage’s dominance here in the U.S. as one of the many reasons I’m so glad to live here. But WhatsApp is, finally, clearly getting Meta-ized. MG, later on in the same column:
But all I see in the news is that Meta was having a hell of
a time monetizing WhatsApp after years and years and they think
they found someone who can do that. Also, how have those
other “hackquisitions” worked out for everyone? What I see
is Meta no longer giving a shit about the product or the
experience, just the monetization. They’re ready to fucking milk
it.
Oh, and while MG was (is?) banned from his WhatsApp account, messages from other people go through to his account with no indication that he can’t see them. What a fucking system.
