A local farmer has been left feeling anxious and worried after he was locked out of his business accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

Adam Knock says he has been left in the dark for weeks by the social media giant, Meta, who he says told him to change the password to his business account before realising he had lost access to his account.

The local business owner, who had only recently established his business, Adam Knock Agricultural Contracting ltd, says he has lost thousands as a result of his accounts being frozen.

“I’ve been trying to find out what has happened to my account, I don’t know whether it has been hacked or if it has been suspended for another reason but it is very difficult to speak to somebody at Meta,” he said.

“I had 30 responses to an advert I had paid for on Facebook through my page, which I would estimate accounts for between £6,000 and £7,000. But more might have responded by now if my account was still active.”

“I’ve just spent all my savings on a new tractor to support this business, which I have an upcoming payment for in the spring. Without work I’m not going to be able to finance it.”

Nobody can view the page any more, which appears to have been taken off the platform completely and has reduced his presence online.

In an age where farmers are being told to diversify and find new ways of securing an income, Adam has called on larger companies to do more to support small business owners online by making communicating with them easier.

“It just seems to be one thing after another,” he continued.

“A company as big as Meta has not outlined why the page has been suspended or how I should try to regain access to it.”

“I already suffer badly with my anxiety and I have been very stressed out. I’m asking the same questions as everybody else but nobody will give me any answers.”

“The situation is pushing me down the road of poor mental health, which is a difficult experience lots of other farmers go through. But I am feeling like I might as well give up.”

Adam doesn’t appear to be the only victim of this situation either. Although Meta did not respond to the Chronicle’s approach for a comment, it has publicly stated in July that it was aware of a technical error which has caused the wrongful suspension of some Facebook groups.

The BBC has reported on cases around the world of different business owners who have had their business accounts suspended, and almost all cases have seen accounts arbitrarily banned.

A petition was launched and signed by over 25,000 people who say they have experienced the same problem across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, but there is still no human to speak to about the issue.

Instead, Meta’s moderation decisions are made by artificial intelligence (AI), and the platform doesn’t appear to have evidence of this being a widespread problem.