Hi @debbiemum,
I am really sorry to hear that three of your Instagram accounts were disabled. I want to be clear and straight with you about what is, and is not, connected here.
The most important point first: connecting or reconnecting your account through Smash Balloon does not cause Instagram to disable an account, and it does not put your account in violation of Instagram’s terms or community standards. Our plugin connects using Instagram’s official API through an app that has been reviewed and approved by Meta. It does not log in as you, it does not store your password, and it does not do anything in the background that would breach Instagram’s rules.
It helps to separate the two things that happened, because they are not related to each other:
- On your website (the plugin side). When a site is moved to a new server, the security keys that WordPress uses can change. Smash Balloon keeps your Instagram connection stored in an encrypted form that is tied to those keys, so after the move the plugin can no longer read the saved connection. That shows up as a local decryption error on your site, and the feed stops until you reconnect. This is purely a local, technical issue on your own website. It has no effect on your Instagram account’s standing and it cannot trigger a disable.
- On Instagram’s side (the account being disabled). The “community standards” notice, the verification step you were asked to complete, and the disabling of the accounts are all actions taken by Instagram on their end. We have no visibility into, or control over, those decisions, and the plugin cannot cause them. One pattern we do sometimes see is that signing into several Instagram accounts in a short window from a brand new server or location can trip Instagram’s automated security checks. That is a security flag reacting to the new login activity, rather than a sign that you actually broke a community standard, but only Instagram can tell you the real reason, and only Instagram can restore an account.
Because the account status sits entirely on Instagram’s side, the way to challenge it is directly with Instagram. We are genuinely not able to reinstate or appeal an account on your behalf. On the disabled notice (in the Instagram app or at instagram.com) there is normally an option to request a review or verify your identity, and that is the route to take. Instagram’s Help Center also has steps for disabled accounts here: https://help.instagram.com/
For the plugin side, once an account is active again (and for any accounts that are still fine), reconnecting through Smash Balloon is safe. If you see that connection or decryption message again after the move, the fix is simply to reconnect the account in the plugin, which creates a fresh, valid connection on the new server, or follow these other steps: https://smashballoon.com/doc/error-999-access-token-could-not-be-decrypted/
If you would like hands-on help with the reconnection or with getting your feeds working again on the new server, you are very welcome to reach out to our support team through our form here: https://smashballoon.com/support. We would be glad to help with that side of things.
Again, I am sorry you are dealing with this, and I hope Instagram restores your accounts quickly.
Best regards,
