Hundreds of Australians complain of wrongful social media account closures but ombudsman can’t help

Increasing number of people asking for help to regain access to accounts, with Google topping digital platform-related complaints

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

More than 1,500 Australians in the past two-and-a-half years have complained to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about digital platforms, with a third complaining about wrongful account terminations.

But the TIO – which is responsible for complaints about mobile phone service, land lines and internet services – has no powers to do anything about it.