What happens when your Facebook account is suspended?
- Rachel Roussell
- Nov 5, 2024
- 2 min read
The purpose of this article is to tell you about my Facebook suspension, the effect it had on my business, and the outcome. It is also an invitation for you to send me any relevant information about this topic and I will keep updating the article in the hope that it helps others.
On the 1st of September 2024, I tried to log into my Facebook account. This is the message I received from Facebook:
We’ve suspended your account.
Your Facebook account was suspended because your Instagram account XXXXX (inserted was an Instagram account I have never heard of before) doesn’t follow our rules.
You have 180 days to appeal. Log in to your Instagram account to appeal our decision.
Log in to your Instagram account.
Each day I tried to log into Facebook the same message came up with a countdown of the days I had left to appeal.
I immediately logged in to my Instagram account from the link and it took me to my Instagram account where there wasn’t a link to appeal the suspension.
My only option was to 'report a problem' on Instagram, so I did.
I included details of the suspension and screenshots. I didn’t get a reply from Instagram.
What I lost access to because of the suspension.
Linked to my personal Facebook account, I had:
A business page for my content writing (freelance)
A page I owned with 1000 members
A group I owned related to a topic I write about
A page for my second business (freelance)
A page for a friend’s business (who doesn’t want their own Facebook account)
I couldn't access anything or see anything.
The settings I had on my Facebook account, pages and group were as tight as I thought they could be.
I didn’t have an admin for my two business pages because I’m a sole trader, nobody is involved in those businesses. I didn’t have an admin on my group either.
And so the nightmare began…
After reporting the issue to Instagram I Googled every relevant keyword and phrase I could think of for Facebook suspensions. I also looked on YouTube for advice. I found loads of people on threads and chats that were going through the same thing.
I went on my LinkedIn account where I have 800 connections asking for help and the only help I received was recommendations for companies that for $250 would get my account back. I wasn’t going down that route.
I was hesitant about putting anything on X aimed at Facebook itself because I was worried that it would hinder the recovery of my account.
A month later...
By the 1st of October, I had reported my dilemma 14 times through different channels that I found out about. Which were:
Instagram reporting
Instagram - ‘does this answer your question’ no, no
