FB personal account permanently disabled (12)
Hey all - So about 6 weeks ago, out of the blue, my FB personal profile was disabled. I got a message that said "Your FB account has been disabled. If you feel this was done in error please visit the Help Center."
I visited the Help Center and the only option was to submit my ID. There was no "Appeal" box where I could submit any other information or explanation. Also - I had never ran any ads on FB or posted anything close to controversial, Ive always been a very typical FB user, posting family pics once or twice a month and liking and commenting just on friends posts.
I submitted my ID and passport, and for the next several days would try logging in a few times, each time getting the same message. I submitted my ID another 2 or 3 times which I was advised by a few people to do.
The last time I tried, I got a message back that said something like "Your FB account has been permanently disabled for violating our Community Standards and this decision cannot be reversed".
I tried creating a new account a few weeks later, same name but different email and phone number. It lasted a week and then was also permanently disabled.
Ive been working the last few months on building out a couple of business ideas that I had invested a lot of time and money into taking onto FB and start running Ads. Now I cant even use FB or IG (that was shut down too).
Im at a loss, if anyone has ANY guidance or tips on what I could do please let me know.
My plans are I guess to just try again, using a new IP address, different phone number AND phone, different computer, different browsers. I could even change my birthdate or misspell my name slightly but I hate doing that. I would like for it to be a legit account, and could never verify my identity with a photo ID since it would show my same name and birthdate wouldn't match.
This sounds crazy - but ive even considered legally changing my first or middle name or something like that, which I know is extreme, but wondering if that would even make a difference.
Im at a loss and would be SOOO grateful for any help or insight that could be provided.
Thanks guys
I'm not an FB expert but I would suggest that you try to find alternative solutions (e.g. rentals or farmed accounts) in the mean time if you really want to get your campaigns up rather quickly.
If you want, you can still try to create another profile under your name but it would be best to create it under a new IP (you can try to go to a place with public wifi and create it there). However, I wouldn't even try to run any ads on that new profile at least for the next 6 months - anything shorter than that would trigger a flag on your profile and FB will ultimately disable it.
Same boat here.
Just about to launch probably the most legit WH offer ever, one BM disabled, submitted IDs twice..
Then everything disabled permanently.
Complete waste on my awareness warmup ads and all the pixel data I'd collected.
I know buying accounts is an option, and it a vital part of any remarketing campaign but at this stage I'd rather not give them another penny.
Originally Posted by sda686
Do you still have the option to appeal? If so, please do try until you can't. FB will often say that their decision is final, but I've been able to get accounts back after that "final verdict". You can find some tips on how to appeal here:
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47031
But of course, there are other sources of traffic to tap into if you're sick and tired of dealing with FB. They're big but they're not the only source of good traffic.
Amy
Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums
Keep appealing and chatting is the only option. It probably gives them a proper sign too you are actual a legit person (if thats the case ofcourse). Patience is needed and make sure you stay polite now matter how shitty it is. They also look for people who are professional and decent ofcourse. Trust me I had this issue daily back in the day, it was horrible.
At the end it's adapt or "die" (choose other traffic source). But if you can get a grip on it FB is still the best (stongest!) traffic source imho.
I lost my 12 year old personal Facebook ad account in their latest censorship wave. This was my official iAmAttila facebook account, with 5000 friends and access to countless groups used regularly with valid history from multiple devices. Appealed it, they do not give a damn.
Years ago I lost my iAmAttila page with 8000 followers and then swore not to create another one because they have ultimate control over your business. Instead, I focused on growing my emailing list that currently has 16,000 people on it with great open rate. Was a wise decision.
To be honest, I never-ever expected Facebook to start censoring private conversations and kicking off their user base. I believed their users are their biggest asset, and their main focus. I was obviously wrong.
The road ahead? What Amy said, stop using facebook and instead try other traffic sources. I know none has such awesome targeting like Facebook, but Google is very good once you learn how to make it work for you.
About getting new FB accounts? You can get them, farm them, buy them, rent them - but one definite - you will get banned on those too.
I haven't heard of people being banned for Messenger conversations, interesting.
That said, Facebook is under fire from all directions. Its users are upset over scams, ads or otherwise, fake news and censorship. Obviously fake news and censorship are at odds, as what one person sees as fake news, another sees as legit and cries censorship if it is banned or deleted.
Furthermore, Facebook now faces anti-trust lawsuits from the US DoJ and almost every state, 46 out of 50 plus Guam and DC. And to make it even better, Facebook is basically despised by both political parties. Again, one side sees censorship and the other sees fake news and illegal election interference.
And top to it all off, advertisers are getting upset with the platform and constant false positive bans. Now, Depesh Mandalia says that when he and his team audit accounts, they almost always see numerous policy violations. He uses this as a reason to buy his coaching and strategy. And while that is an issue, to me that means the platform is broken. If EVERYONE is breaking the rules, then everyone isn't the problem, the rules and the enforcement mechanism is. Facebook seems to believe that keeping the true rules hidden, and what is and is not acceptable will prevent gaming the rules. Yet even on this WH forum, everyone is gaming the rules. Go to more BH forums, and they are most definitely gaming the rules. All Facebook is doing is managing to piss off and run of legit advertisers who want to follow the rules, they simply don't understand them.
So even though I still use Facebook extensively, I have absolutely no pity for the situation they find themselves in. Zuckerberg emphasized growth over everything else. "Move fast and break things." Well, that helped them grow quickly, but it also helped them grow on a foundation of quick sand. They do not have anywhere near enough people to properly moderate either their advertising platform or the main platform. Policy violations are the norm, not the exception. And the AI constantly gets tweaked and then overreacts and goes after the wrong users. And frankly, I don't think they can even get on top of their moderation issues at this point. AI is not going to fix it as determining fake news from real often requires some investigation as well as some judgement calls.
So I really do think we will see a major change at Facebook. The DoJ went after Microsoft and AT&T, and for anyone old enough to remember, they are not the same companies. Microsoft may still dominate the consumer OS and office productivity software areas, but IE went from the de facto to a joke. AT&T isn't even the same company, it was completely broken up into numerous companies. We got real competition for long distance, we got major technological innovation in telecommunications, and the Baby Bells ruled the roost until they eventually bought out Ma Bell. In case you didn't know, Southwestern Bell had become SBC, which then bought AT&T and rebranded as Ma Bell before buying BellSouth. Verizon was also a Bell Company, Bell Atlantic.
So while I don't know what the future holds for Facebook, I don't see them walking away from this unscathed. They have pissed off too many people and I believe the best they can hope for it a Microsoft settlement versus a AT&T settlement.
Originally Posted by stationmaster
I agree with @iwanttofly - facebook as an advertising platform is just fundamentally broken, and as a company as a whole it is just toxic.
Even the most whitehat of whitehat advertisers seem to constantly get their accounts banned.
If you want to advertise on there then just poke around and find out how other people create multiple accounts and deal with account bans. I don't really know personally since I've never run traffic on facebook and don't have a personal account, but I imagine there are a variety of ways to do so.
But yeah, I totally hear you on the emotional side. I remember when I tried to do YouTube advertising a couple years ago and got banned (likely for something stupid like not having the right affiliate disclaimer) it feels extremely personal.
It's a really awful system re: Facebook and Google... I think the fact that Facebook especially is still in business despite being so horribly managed testifies to the extent to which ultra-low interest rates and monopoly-tolerant legislating have utterly warped the economic landscape.
Companies that are as horrid as Facebook should not coast ever higher on greater and greater profits and revenue and market caps... there's something rotten in Denmark (or DC, I should say) and eventually the ETF/Tech Monopoly/FAANG bubble is gonna burst in one way or another.
But yeah, to round back to your initial post - keep your head up and don't let it bother you - consider it rite of passage in your journey to online entrepreneurial success
Whatever your business ideas are that you've been working on you can ABSOLUTELY still accomplish them.
Hey Amy,
What other sources of traffic would you recommend beyond facebook?
Originally Posted by vortex
Yeah I think this is more like Thor's ban hammer.
Not only did an ad account get disabled, then the BM.
After my appeals all of my BMs, then personal FB restricted.
With a lot of red writing everywhere on the dashboard!
I have a sneaking suspicion that de-facebooking my personal life from their services might've led to this (got rid of my personal IG, Whatsapp, removed all my old data from fb profile etc).
They're a huge ad platform but their over zealous data collection is getting beyond a joke.
And the irony of their ' Apple is harming small businesses' popup on the same page as the red ban hammer - says it all really.
And the irony of their ' Apple is harming small businesses' popup on the same page as the red ban hammer - says it all really.
Perhaps that's what they're going for - big money from big businesses. In a way, that actually makes sense - managing fewer accounts using less man power to ensure higher level of user satisfaction.
I feel that for those of us that aren't big businesses, it would be wise to spread out the risks by putting our eggs in multiple baskets.
Originally Posted by stationmaster
Other social platforms - which I don't have experience advertising on but are also big: Whatsapp, Wechat, Tumblr, Tiktok, Twitter, Reddit, LinedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest.
Amy
Is this related to FB verification?
I've had people message me on Facebook that disappeared a few days later. Their username is changed to "Facebook User". The messages they sent me is replaced by "This message has been temporarily removed because the sender's account requires verification."
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