After months of waiting, filing, and fighting, I can finally say the words I’ve been waiting to say for years:
@tonitunes is mine again.
This fight wasn’t easy. It started as a simple hope to reclaim what was rightfully mine, the Instagram handle I originally created over a decade ago, before it was hacked and stolen. Since then, Meta (formerly Facebook) has made me jump through every imaginable hoop: forms, claims, silence, and dismissal.
They shut down my original reports, denied ownership, and when I finally built a full legal case with trademark filings, IRS records, business licenses, years of proof of use, they ignored my certified letter entirely.
I gave them ten business days to respond. They didn’t.
But instead of quitting, I escalated.
✅ Filed with the Arkansas Attorney General (Case # 531215 ).
✅ Filed with the Better Business Bureau — Case #23981618 (Meta has yet to respond).
✅ Prepped an FTC complaint (the government shutdown delayed it).
✅ Reached out to journalists and small business advocates.
✅ Contacted attorneys for possible next steps.
✅ Documented everything publicly and honestly.
Then this morning, something unexpected happened.
I received a notice from the Arkansas Attorney General’s office requesting a bit more information for my case. Jim was meeting with a potential attorney that same afternoon, so I decided to log out of Instagram, and, purely out of honesty, I tried once more to create a new profile using @tonitunes. I wanted to be able to tell them truthfully that I had checked again and it was still locked.
Only this time… it wasn’t.
No email. No snail mail. No phone call. Nothing.
Just silence – and access.
I logged in, saw my name, and felt the quiet satisfaction that only persistence brings.
Meta never reissued it to me, never notified me, never restored my old content. They didn’t do what Pinterest did, which handled the exact same situation with professionalism and integrity. But in the end, I still won.
Because Tonitunes™, my brand, my name, my legacy, is finally back where it belongs.
Meta may never admit they were wrong. But the truth stands all on its own:
I didn’t give up. And I never will.
This wasn’t just about a username. It was about principle, about reminding corporate giants that small business owners have voices, too.
So here’s to everyone who’s ever felt dismissed by a faceless platform:
Keep your receipts. Keep your resolve. And never let them silence your story.
Welcome home, @tonitunes.
You were worth every battle.
With gratitude, grit, and a grin,
Tonya M. Stinson
Designs by Tonitunes™
