A Facebook account can be blocked or disabled for a variety of reasons. The three categories why your Facebook account might be blocked are:
- When posts or messages violate Facebook’s Terms of Use and Community Standards
- For security reasons
- Site maintenance.
If the site is currently undergoing maintenance, breathe a sigh of relief. After the maintenance is completed, you can go back to using Facebook.
However, this not always the case.
Important and often sentimental videos and images will be lost without a backup in case Facebook blocks your account. Also, many users consider Facebook as an email alternative. Losing access to your account is a big deal especially if you are using it for work-related correspondence.
Reversing their decision has a lot to do with knowing which of three categories is the reason why you can’t access your Facebook account.
Why Accounts Get Disabled
There is a huge buzz about Facebook disabling accounts without prior warning or information about what violation they committed.
If you are trying to access your Facebook account and see this message:
“Account Disabled”
It means your account is being blocked by Facebook. In this case, you are supposed to appeal if you want to recover your account. You can, of course, contact Facebook’s support team via email, but you will need to give them enough information to work on. It is best you understand why your account was blocked or disabled first.
Basically, the grounds Facebook uses to disable accounts are listed in their Terms of Use and Community Standards. If your account has received notification involving a supposed violation, it’s a good idea to read the terms just in case.
What You Can Do to Recover a Disabled Facebook Account
When you firmly believe that Facebook made a mistake and you did not violate the site’s terms of use and community standards, you may appeal Facebook’s decision.
You will have to complete an Appeal Form that should contain pertinent information Facebook needs to investigate. The downside is that you won’t be given any guarantees that you can still recover your account.
If Facebook thinks your account poses any security threat, the system will flag it right away. False identities, promotion of illegal content, harassment, inappropriate and offensive use of the site as well as spamming and other instances considered as suspicious activity are the common grounds for disabling a user’s account.
You should know the specific violation to know how to explain your side and how long the process will take for your specific case. It also an important part of the appeal to add details and information you think Facebook should know.
Let them know if you think your account was hacked by someone, if you have visual evidence that someone else is responsible for a violation, if you are being harassed or threatened and so on. If Facebook suspects your identity, you will be asked to submit documents to verify your identity. Be sure to properly scan the documents so your name, birthday and photo to be readable and clear. It may take weeks for Facebook to respond, but it’s worth a shot.
Simple Account Recovery Steps:
- Clean up your browser and log into your Facebook account and go through the verification process. In most cases, this is enough to restore your account in case Facebook’s system thinks your account is compromised.
- If you could not log in during your first attempts, wait 96 hours to try again. Clean your browser’s cache and delete cookies too.
- Confirm your mobile number to verify your identity. Facebook can send a code to your mobile that you will enter online to recover your account.
- Verify your identity by identifying random pictures of your friends.
- If you pass either verification methods, you will be sent a message that you have regained access to your account.
Prevention is always Better than Looking for Solutions
There is no sure-fire way to make sure Facebook doesn’t disable your account ever. But, you can consider these suggestions that can prevent your account from being flagged, locked and permanently disabled.
The most important prevention is to know Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities as well as the Community Standard Rules. If you use your Facebook account against their standards, you can expect being reported and flagged – leading to a disabled account.
Proxy servers and anonymous IP addresses should also be avoided. Using these methods to access blocked sites may work, but it can also affect your Facebook account. This is the security threat Facebook is wary about because it can negatively affect the overall network security.
And last but not the least, unless it is completely necessary, don’t log in to your account using multiple devices at different locations. While multi-device authentication is allowed, Facebook’s system can also consider this as a security breach.
