Don't Build Your Business on Rented Land: A Hard Lesson from Meta

Two days ago, one of our customers found that their company's Facebook and Instagram pages vanished. Not suspended—gone. The reason? A DMCA complaint that they know is completely invalid. They filed their appeal immediately, providing all the necessary documentation to prove the claim was baseless.

It's now been 48 hours. No response. No resolution. No timeline.

And here's the thing that keeps us here at Moloco Consulting up at night: they're not alone.

The House of Cards We All Built

For years, businesses have been told to "meet customers where they are"—on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social platforms. And businesses did. They invested countless hours crafting content, building audiences, engaging with customers, and creating communities. They poured money into ads, hired social media managers, and made these platforms central to our marketing strategies.

But here's what nobody tells you: You don't own any of it.

Every post, every follower, every carefully cultivated relationship—it all exists on someone else's platform, governed by their rules, enforced by their algorithms, and subject to their mistakes.

When the Algorithm Becomes Judge, Jury, and Executioner

The DMCA takedown process on platforms like Meta is designed to be swift. According to industry reports, Facebook and Instagram typically review reports within 24-72 hours. That sounds reasonable until you're on the receiving end of a false claim.

Wrongful takedowns can severely disrupt businesses, damaging reputation and causing financial losses, particularly for creators and businesses that rely heavily on social media for revenue. And the problem is getting worse—copyright infringement claims on Facebook have increased by 62% in just two years, which means more opportunities for both legitimate claims and false ones.

The real kicker? If someone appeals your successful DMCA takedown, you have only 10 to 14 business days to take legal action, or the infringing content gets automatically restored. But when you're the victim of a false claim, there's no such urgency from Meta's side.

The Human Cost of Automation

Users report losing accounts that have been active for over a decade, serving as crucial platforms for business pages, communication with audiences, and securing licensing contracts. One business owner shared how they lost $1,500 in just three days when they couldn't access their Facebook page where customers normally book appointments. During platform outages, small business owners have reported losses of hundreds or thousands of dollars in revenue. One Seattle travel company owner said that even temporary Facebook outages cost her thousands in bookings, noting: "It may only be a few people, but we are small enough that it hurts".

These aren't edge cases. According to a leading social media marketing agency, they recover lost access to Facebook Business Manager accounts for clients regularly, with recovery times ranging anywhere from 3 days to 3 months.

The Illusion of Free

"But social media is free!" you might say.

Is it, though?

Consider what you're actually paying:

• Time: Hours spent creating platform-specific content that disappears into the algorithmic void

• Money: Ad spend that drives users to pages you don't control

• Control: Zero say in how the platform displays your content or who sees it

• Stability: Your entire presence can disappear with a single algorithm change or false claim

• Ownership: All your content, all your fans and followers, contacts and conversations could literally disappear overnight

  
  

Remember Google+? Launched in 2011, it could never compete with Facebook and Twitter, and now Google+ as a social network is no more. If your business relied solely on Google+ for your online presence, you would have lost everything when they shut down.

What You Actually Own vs. What You Rent

When you build on social media, you're building on rented property—and that property owner can change the rules, change the algorithms, or even shut down your presence without your permission and without notice.

When you sign up for a public social media page, you agree that all users are authorized to share and re-distribute your content. Social media sites can also remove any content as they see fit.

Compare that to your own website:

• You own your domain (as long as you maintain it)

• You control the design and user experience completely

• You decide what content appears and how it's presented

• You own your audience data and can contact them directly

• You set the rules for how people engage with your brand

• Unlike social media, where you're at the mercy of changing algorithms and policies, you control your website entirely

  
  

The Right Way to Use Social Media

I'm not saying abandon social media entirely. That would be foolish. Social media is powerful for discovery, engagement, and building awareness.

But here's the critical shift in thinking: Social media is the vehicle to drive traffic to your website—it's not the destination.

Your strategy should be:

1. Your website is your home base—the place you own and control

2. Email marketing is your direct line—the audience you can reach regardless of algorithms

3. Social media is your megaphone—use it to drive people back to what you own

   
   

Don't rely on platforms you don't own to grow your business. Having a website gives you the ability to optimize content for search engines, allowing people to find you when they're already searching for your products or services.

What We Recommend Doing Differently

This wake-up call has been expensive for our customer, but it's clarifying. Here's what what we've recommend they change:

1. Website first: All their best content goes on our website first, then gets promoted on social media

2. Email is king: They should aggressively building their email list—those are contacts they own

3. Social media as a tool: They should use social platforms for what they're good at (discovery and engagement), but they should always drive people to their owned properties

4. Diversification: They should spread their presence across multiple platforms, so no single takedown can cripple them

5. Documentation: They should keep detailed records of everything they create and all their interactions

   
   

The Bottom Line

A business owner who experienced platform issues noted that they're "vulnerable any time Facebook or others introduce a new feature or make some other change that affects the way the sites function".

You can't build a sustainable business on land you don't own.

Yes, social media is important. Yes, you should be there. But treating these platforms as your primary online presence is like building your dream house on someone else's property—and they hold the keys, make the rules, and can evict you at any time for any reason.

Own your domain. Build your website. Control your destiny.

Because when—not if—a platform changes its rules, updates its algorithm, or makes a mistake that affects your presence, you'll have somewhere solid to stand.

Are you building your business primarily on social media? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Have you had your account suspended or disabled? How did it affect your business? Share in the comments below.

And if this post resonated with you, please share it with other business owners who might be at risk. The more we talk about this, the more prepared we'll all be.