Meta is launching a new centralized support hub for Facebook and Instagram users, the company announced Thursday, adding that previous support options “consistently fell short of expectations.” Within the hub, users can find tools to report issues with their accounts, recover accounts that are no longer accessible, and get answers through AI-powered search and AI assistants.
The feature is currently rolling out to Facebook and Instagram users globally on both iOS and Android apps.
The new AI assistant we’re testing is designed to provide more personalized help with account recovery, managing your profile, updating your settings, and more. This particular feature will be available to Facebook users first, but the company plans to roll it out to other apps in the future.
The company claims that its use of AI systems helps protect users’ accounts, noting that account hacks have decreased by more than 30% globally across Facebook and Instagram. AI is also used to identify and stop other threats, such as phishing, suspicious logins, and account compromise.
Additionally, Mehta said AI has made it easier than ever to accidentally deactivate accounts and expedited the dispute process when mistakes occur.
However, this claim does not match the real-life experiences of thousands of users of Meta’s app who say mistakes made by Meta’s systems have left them unable to access their accounts and Facebook pages. Some suspect that the AI is to blame, since there doesn’t seem to be any human supervision involved in the mistakes or support requests. Some of these users have even threatened or taken legal action, especially when losing your account would have real-world consequences to your business or life.
The situation is now so bad that a Reddit-wide forum was set up this year to help people suing Meta over deactivated accounts.
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Meta believes the new hub can address these types of issues, saying it centralizes account recovery options and provides a more streamlined account recovery experience with clearer guidelines and easier verification. Additionally, Mehta promises that the system will send improved SMS and email alerts about risky activity and be more aware of users’ devices than before. It also connects users to other tools to protect their accounts, such as running security diagnostics, setting up two-factor authentication, and adding a passkey.
The account recovery method now also gives you the option to take an optional selfie video to verify your identity.
Meta claims the new hub will make life easier for users, but just navigating where settings and help can be found can be confusing. Over the years, Meta has regularly rearranged key areas such as account settings, data management tools, and privacy features, ostensibly to improve user experience. But constant change also means that users can’t remember where they found it in the app, as it’s no longer where it was before, and various menus and navigation have changed.
