Imagine waking up to discover your social media account has been permanently disabled.

Years of building an audience, customer relationships, business contacts and valuable content can suddenly become inaccessible. You may receive little explanation, no prior warning and no meaningful opportunity to correct whatever allegedly went wrong.

For independent creators, companions, freelancers and small businesses, these accounts can be essential to earning a living.

As the founder of Bonafide Xchange (BFX), I've experienced this firsthand. We've had multiple social media accounts disabled, disrupting our business and the communities we've worked hard to build. Trying to obtain clear answers and resolve these decisions has been incredibly frustrating.

And we're far from the only people affected.

Social media companies have a responsibility to enforce their policies and protect their users. But they should also be accountable when their decisions affect people's livelihoods.

We are calling on the Australian Government, governments and regulators worldwide, and major social media platforms to establish and enforce the following protections:

1. Provide clear explanations. Identify the specific policy allegedly breached and the content or activity responsible, wherever reasonably possible.
2. Give fair warnings. Allow people an opportunity to correct ordinary, fixable breaches before permanently disabling their accounts.
3. Introduce genuine appeals. Provide accessible human reviews, reasonable response timeframes and independent escalation when disputes remain unresolved.
4. Protect access to data. Allow affected users to retrieve their content, business records and other account data wherever lawful and practicable.
5. Apply rules fairly. Ensure consistent treatment for lawful businesses and individuals, including content creators, companions and workers in industries that face stigma.
6. Establish accountability. Require platforms to correct wrongful removals promptly and provide appropriate remedies where demonstrable harm has occurred.

We recognise that serious safety threats, illegal content and other urgent circumstances may require immediate action. These exceptions should not become an excuse for denying fair treatment in ordinary cases.

People deserve clear answers, reasonable warnings and a genuine opportunity to appeal.

Whether you've lost a business account, a creator profile or years of personal memories, your experience matters.

We're bringing affected communities together to demand change.

Sign this petition and help us make social media companies accountable for the decisions they make.