Zufi's side hustle was booming. Then his videos were flagged as 'child abuse' for this absurd reason
Zufi Abdul, better known as the Cannoli Boss, has built a loyal online following selling his handmade Italian pastries from the St George area in Sydney 's southern suburbs.
What started as a humble side hustle quickly snowballed into a full-blown business, thanks largely to Instagram and Facebook, platforms he used to take orders, promote market stalls, and showcase his popular cannoli creations.
But on July 11, Zufi's world was turned upside down.
Without warning, Instagram shut down his account, claiming a 16-second video violated community guidelines related to 'child abuse and nudity'.
The clip in question was a harmless compilation showing Zufi in his kitchen, buying ingredients, setting up at a market stall, and proudly displaying a tray of cannoli.
At one point, he's seen jumping up and down in excitement, a moment now central to the bizarre accusation levelled by the social media giant.
The video was posted on TikTok, where it continues to garner views without issue.
'I felt helpless,' Zufi told Daily Mail.
'Instagram was everything to my business. It's how people discovered me, followed my journey, and supported my work. To be suddenly cut off, and accused of something so horrific, it's been deeply distressing.'
Zufi said there was nothing remotely inappropriate about the content, and he has struggled to understand how Meta, Instagram's parent company, reached such an extreme conclusion.
'The Meta accusation is not only untrue, it's offensive,' he said.
'My page only ever had food content, behind-the-scenes videos, pop-up events, and customer orders. I was running a legitimate small business.
'There's nothing close to exploitation or abuse.'
The teenager has tried every possible avenue to overturn the decision.
He's lodged appeals, submitted support requests, and even visited Meta's Australian headquarters, all to no avail.
'There's no human you can speak to. No one has reached out. It's just silence. They tell you to wait, but you don't know if anyone's even looked at your case. Meanwhile, I've lost my customers, my content, and the community I worked so hard to build,' he said.
Zufi's case highlights growing concerns around Meta's automated moderation system, which critics say regularly misfires by flagging innocent creators and allows genuinely harmful material to remain online.
'I've seen real child abuse content reported and still left up,' Zufi said.
'It's insane. The system is broken, and it's punishing the wrong people.'
In response, Zufi has launched an online campaign using the hashtag #Justice4CannoliBoss, calling on Meta to apologise, restore his account, and publicly acknowledge the harm caused by the false accusations.
'This isn't just about me,' he said.
'There are other small creators out there who've had their livelihoods destroyed by bad moderation. It's not fair, and it has to change.'
Despite the setback, Zufi remains determined to keep his business alive.
He's currently rebuilding on other platforms such as TikTok, but says the damage from Instagram's decision has been immense.
'I built Cannoli Boss from nothing, one pastry at a time. All I want is to keep doing what I love, and to be treated fairly. Meta needs to do better,' he said.
In a statement to Daily Mail, Meta said: 'We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we've made a mistake.'
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