unable to activate imessaging on new ipod touch

Had same issue with my daughters iPod. Called apple care customer support. They claim her apple I.d had a hold on it due to possible fraudulent activity. After I confirmed everything was ok, they took the hold off. They had me reboot the device and sign back in; it finally worked.

I would suggest calling in and checking into the apple i.d you are trying to use.

What happens when you try to sign in with your current Apple ID?

Are you able to activate iMessage or FaceTime using another Apple ID?

Also, if you can, try these steps: If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support