How you may get banned on Facebook

You might find yourself unable to access your personal/business Facebook account without getting any sort of caution or warning.

Facebook is clear on what they will allow and won’t allow on their platform and if you violate any of those terms, you could face short-term to long-term restrictions, or you might even get banned. Here are some of the most common reasons people face restrictions/ bans on Facebook:

Fake accounts: There's no need for an explanation in this case. Pretending to be someone you are not is not a thing that should be accommodated, and Facebook is getting more efficient at finding out fake profiles/ business accounts. It only takes one report for your profile to be deactivated without warning.

Posting contents that breach copyright claims: Copyright violations are common on almost all the major social media platforms. If you are posting content that breaches copyright claims, you could face instant shutting down/ long-term restriction of your account at any time.

Naming restrictions: The name restrictions on Facebook are rather rigorous. You can't try to fool the search engines by using generic terms like ‘pizza’ or ‘beer,’ and they're picky about syntax and capitalisation.

Obtaining user data without permission: You must explicitly disclose that you are collecting information from a user or visitor for marketing purposes in any instance where you gather information from a user.

The most usual example to get restricted for this is failure to emphasise that your company, not Facebook, is gathering this data.

Contests: We've all done these, and you may have unwittingly taken part in one that could result in a firm being shut down.

Every contest and promotion must be conducted throughout a Facebook or third-party app, according to Facebook guidelines. That means the sweepstakes you entered last week by 'liking' the page of your favourite food place down the street was actually against Facebook's rules of service.

So, if you're thinking to yourself, “Well, if these businesses can get away with it, why can't I?"  don't go weeping to your friends if you're banned!

Spamming: You can be banned if you spam your followers with direct messages, post too many self-promotional links, and also post the same link too many times. So it is important to be cautious while planning your weekly posts. Make sure they're beneficial to your audience; it isn't just about you.

Posting prohibited contents: That's self-explanatory and common sense, yet many people seem to overlook it (or willingly forget). You will be banned if you engage in prohibited activity on Facebook.

Although the following items don't include all, these are the most common:

1. Posts that are sexually suggestive
2. Nudity
3. Speech that is motivated by hatred or bias
4. Racism or xenophobia
5. Taking direct aim at other's beliefs
6. Posers and imposters
7. Fake timeline
8. Content related to self-harm
9. Malicious software links

Avoid sharing these types of content to avoid being tagged as abusive.

The same goes for the comments you make in various posts. If your comments contain any of the mentioned items, you could face long-term restrictions/ ban on Facebook.

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