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Meta has suspended my Facebook account

20 points by michaelbrooks ↗ HN
I tried using Facebook this morning to find out that my account had been suspended due to an Instagram account not following their rules.

The account "emuoz1w9nruyysu" has nothing to do with me. I have never created that account and don't have access to it.

However, Facebook has said I can only regain access to my account by appealing from that IG account. I don't know how it got associated with me, as I have never received a request to administrate or moderate that account, and I can't log into it to appeal.

I have 180 days, but I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the issue feels stupid. I just wanted to vent and hope that maybe someone here might know what happened and how I could rectify this issue.

21 comments

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MichaelRo
>> maybe someone here might know what happened and how I could rectify this issue

Rectify it is but in the sense that taking it up your rectum from Meta as many others. They rectify people's account quite a lot from what I could tell reading HN posts :)

michaelbrooks
Haha thanks for the humor and bringing a smile to my face despite Meta's stupidity :D
[dead] ros33
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borisk
Upvoted your post - hopefully someone working for Meta sees it and decides to help you.

Other than that, you can just stop using FB :)

michaelbrooks
Thank you, and I only use it to keep updated with friends and family. Maybe this is more of a blessing in disguise
beretguy
And you have a perfect excuse. If anyone asks why you don’t use Facebook you can just tell the truth.
[dead] Aleksdev
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michaelbrooks
I'm not addicted, but I've had that account since I was a teen, and it carries many memories and connections. I shared it here, hoping someone had a similar experience and could maybe share if they fixed it.

It's nothing like that at all.

Aleksdev
Oh ok, still a bit strange to post here but in that case don’t take it too hard. Getting banned from a big platform for no reason or a silly reason is like a right of passage nowadays :)
beretguy
Congratulations! Take this as an opportunity to quit Facebook.
michaelbrooks
I barely use Facebook to be honest, but it still had all my memories and connections. I've had this account for a very long time.
qarl
I've heard you can sue them in small claims court to get your account back.

Apparently it's the only thing that works.

Because, you know, dystopia.

alexvoda
Use this opportunity to remind your friends to download a backup of all of their facebook data.
meiraleal
> I have 180 days, but I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the issue feels stupid

You look way more stupid for bringing this "issue" to a forum like HN. And HN ranking it in the frontpage is the cherry on top.

happymellon
I didn't vote on this, however I'm not surprised.

Corporations should not be the gatekeepers to our accounts.

I cannot use my Apple account because even though my credit card is on the account, my email and postal address, however the phone number has a typo so they won't help. I luckily haven't lost any data but it's also the parent account to my kids accounts, so they are also basically unmanageable. I don't post on here to complain, Apple has now lost my and my family's custom because they don't care enough, but the more we talk about this the more people should be aware that there are plenty of silly ways that you can lose access to data stored with them and you should export everything.

michaelbrooks
Why? Things like this happen all the time and make it to the front page of HN. I've seen people's Google accounts get locked out because of stupid reasons. The IG account has no connection to my Facebook account, and I can't understand how it has affected my Facebook account.
sidharthskumar
Same issue with me. My account got suspended and I have no linked Insta account. What is going on? I have lost access to 16 yrs of my memories. Its a legit account of an ordinary person. Why did they disable my account? Can they rectify it? How do I contact them? There is no form or chat or phone or email support. Please help.