5 ms·

Ask HN: FB banned our page without any reason

29 points by CWIZO 15y ago

I'm writing this in despair (as it usually happens when you are dealing with FB). We just found out that Facebook banned our webpage, so users can't post or like links from our webpage. Facebook login also stopped working. We haven't received any message from FB explaining the situation. All existing content that pointed to our webpage was removed (from our fanpage http://www.facebook.com/mojvideo and from user's profiles). So ... does anyone here know what to do now? How to get our domain un-banned? I've already written to developers-help (a t) facebook.com so far I only received some useless automated response. I've also sent this report: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=block_appeal I've sent this reports a couple of hours ago. But I'm suspecting that this will take forever to resolve (if it will get resolved). Anyone from FB here that can help? At the very least we would like to know why we ware banned. Anyone from FB here that could help or shed some light on this?

jrockway 15y ago
Do you expect a response at 3AM on Monday morning in Facebook's main time zone?
- CWIZO 15y ago
  No, off course not. But we all know how FB is with responding. It's usually nothing or they get back to you after a year or so. I'm just trying to speed things up.
jlind 15y ago
Similar story from Ars Technica when their page was recently banned, with some similar steps you might be able to take: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/facebook-takedown-followup-what-happened-and-what-facebook-needs-to-fix.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/facebook-tak...
codeup 15y ago
FB's practices are well known and should've served as a warning. You shouldn't rely on this being resolved now. I ain't saying it won't be resolved in a good way, but just don't rely on it. Even if your page is restored, think about alternative marketing channels. Don't make yourself depend on the services of one attractive but unereckonable company.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  Luckily FB is not our primary source of traffic, but we'll still take a hit if this doesn't get resolved. Unfortunately this is the state of the web right now.
beatpanda 15y ago
http://xkcd.com/743/ http://xkcd.com/743/
- endgame 15y ago
  As much as I hate random xkcd links turning up in discussions, he has a point. Stop building your infrastructure on other people's proprietary platforms (that are known to be notoriously fickle) and acting surprised when you get burned.
  - CWIZO 15y ago
    We only have "like" buttons on our content, and on Friday we implemented FB login. We can survive without this (we ware around long before FB became relevant in our region), but would rather not be locked out of FB. And yes I get it, FB is _insert whatever here_, but the sad truth is that they are a big player on the market and ignoring them is, simply put, stupid. And the point is that we are a paying customer of FB and this behavior is unacceptable. Pointing the way FB operates is one of the points of my original post. They need to change, and if no one is pointing fingers that won't happen.
briandear 15y ago
Good luck. You might as well try negotiating an unblock with China.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  That's what we are afraid off. Something is very rotten at FB :\
  - briandear 15y ago
    I don't know if it's possible, but perhaps you could do an IP switch.. maybe you can trick FB into allowing your site.
    - CWIZO 15y ago
      Since we have some other pages on the same IP but on different domains, and those other pages ware not banned, I don't think this will solve our problem :\ But even if it did FB could just bann us again, I'm trying to find out why we ware banned so we can fix any possible problems.
      - cherring 15y ago
        From each of these different things like this I have seen, even people that get unbanned (rare) don't seem to know why. Although FWIW I have never used Facebook for anything.
    - jschuur 15y ago
      Trying to circumvent their decision like this is going to make things worse with them, not better. Try and work with them, not against them. If that fails, move on. You miht be overestimating the value of Facebook for additional traffic.
DiabloD3 15y ago
Businesses and websites really need to quit putting their faith in FB. When their accounts get closed like Mojvideo's, it affects their brand viability in a negative way. Getting banned by FB is the new getting banned by PayPal.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  I agree. Most of our traffic comes from search engines and loyal users. But off course we used FB to promote our page too, we would be stupid not to.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
jschuur 15y ago
How long has it been since your appeal?
- CWIZO 15y ago
  Couple of hours. I know, I know. But we all know how things are with this things. My boss recently got his account locked, and then he got un-locked 14 days later without any explanation (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493877 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493877). So I'm just trying to speed things up.
  - jschuur 15y ago
    Well, it is (was) the weekend after all. Nothing wrong about soliciting for feedback on HN, but some context like thisnis useful.
gojomo 15y ago
Keep in mind the coverage a few weeks ago that indicated there are some automated/judgement-less processes at Facebook, based on number of complaints/flags, that can take Pages down. See for example: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2494231 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2494231 So don't assume Facebook has already judged you; as soon as someone there looks at it, it may get fixed. (Sucks in the meantime, but like Google and Craigslist, outsourcing lots of the moderation to the semi-anonymous masses can generate collateral damage even if it usually is a win.)
kmfrk 15y ago
Try asking on Quora. It's a longshot, but there are a couple of people on Facebook who check it regularly.
adaml_623 15y ago
Do you have any guesses why you were banned? Maybe Facebook has the impression that all the Pokemon videos available on your site are copyright violations or something? I'm not sure whether that kind of stuff is illegal to host where you are but it's the kind of thing that companies seem to care about these days.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  If I had to guess I would wager that this is a result of someone sharing a video that had some naked ladies in it, and some other users then flagged that as spam/abuse. So it was completely automated probably.
nedwin 15y ago
You need to get in touch with an account manager. They're actually really easy to deal with if you know the right combination of words, as with most things. We managed to get a clients FB page vanity URL switched from an old page to a new page within about half an hour of sending an email - something we thought was a long shot. Hit me up if you need a hand, my email is in my profile.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  I've sent you a email, cheers!
  - nedwin 15y ago
    and replied. Good luck Jan!
    - vipivip 15y ago
      I'll send you an email, I paid for an ad on Facebook then my account was blocked for making fraudulent activity, not sure what I did wrong because I used my Paypal account to pay for the ad.
leon_ 15y ago
This may sound a little harsh but: That's the risk with putting all your eggs into someone else's basket. Especially if that someone is a faceless corporation with famous bureaucracy. FB closed my account earlier this year too, because I have an uncommon/strange middle name. It led to 7 iOS apps not having any FB support for several days. No, the FB acc wasn't reopened - I just uploaded new versions to the app store with FB support removed. But I was sort of prepared for that and never gave the FB integration a prominent place in my apps - so users weren't that upset when it went away. (I got burnt the first time around 2002 when Google decided to close my Adsense account because our color scheme was "mis leading" users. Adsense was at that time my only (but good paying) income and suddenly losing all of your income was a hard lesson to learn.) I don't know your site/app but maybe you should (after you get the stuff sorted out) over think your investment in FB for your future projects. (I'm sure you aren't desperate for no reason.) Btw. FB answered my request 3 weeks later with a form letter asking me for a copy of my ID. I didn't react to that but I have the feeling that it would have taken another weeks and form letters to sort the situation out.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  I agree with you completely. And like I've said a couple of times in this thread, we didn't put all our eggs in FB's basket. And my desperation didn't come from the fact that now we are screwed (which we aren't), but from the fact that I know what hell I'll have to go trough to get the matter sorted out.
joshmlewis 15y ago
Facebook likewise took my page down. It was going viral. I "appealed" it but never heard anything. I wish I could get it back.
CWIZO 15y ago
Ha, FB un-banned us. No response from them, the bann was just magically lifted. If somebody here had something to do with it then I really can't express my gratitude!! I just hope this does not happen again.

29 points by CWIZO 15y ago

jrockway 15y ago

Do you expect a response at 3AM on Monday morning in Facebook's main time zone?

CWIZO 15y ago
No, off course not. But we all know how FB is with responding. It's usually nothing or they get back to you after a year or so. I'm just trying to speed things up.

jlind 15y ago

Similar story from Ars Technica when their page was recently banned, with some similar steps you might be able to take: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/facebook-takedown-followup-what-happened-and-what-facebook-needs-to-fix.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/facebook-tak...

codeup 15y ago

FB's practices are well known and should've served as a warning. You shouldn't rely on this being resolved now. I ain't saying it won't be resolved in a good way, but just don't rely on it. Even if your page is restored, think about alternative marketing channels. Don't make yourself depend on the services of one attractive but unereckonable company.

CWIZO 15y ago
Luckily FB is not our primary source of traffic, but we'll still take a hit if this doesn't get resolved. Unfortunately this is the state of the web right now.

beatpanda 15y ago

http://xkcd.com/743/ http://xkcd.com/743/

endgame 15y ago
As much as I hate random xkcd links turning up in discussions, he has a point. Stop building your infrastructure on other people's proprietary platforms (that are known to be notoriously fickle) and acting surprised when you get burned.
- CWIZO 15y ago
  We only have "like" buttons on our content, and on Friday we implemented FB login. We can survive without this (we ware around long before FB became relevant in our region), but would rather not be locked out of FB. And yes I get it, FB is _insert whatever here_, but the sad truth is that they are a big player on the market and ignoring them is, simply put, stupid. And the point is that we are a paying customer of FB and this behavior is unacceptable. Pointing the way FB operates is one of the points of my original post. They need to change, and if no one is pointing fingers that won't happen.

briandear 15y ago

Good luck. You might as well try negotiating an unblock with China.

CWIZO 15y ago
That's what we are afraid off. Something is very rotten at FB :\
- briandear 15y ago
  I don't know if it's possible, but perhaps you could do an IP switch.. maybe you can trick FB into allowing your site.
  - CWIZO 15y ago
    Since we have some other pages on the same IP but on different domains, and those other pages ware not banned, I don't think this will solve our problem :\ But even if it did FB could just bann us again, I'm trying to find out why we ware banned so we can fix any possible problems.
    - cherring 15y ago
      From each of these different things like this I have seen, even people that get unbanned (rare) don't seem to know why. Although FWIW I have never used Facebook for anything.
  - jschuur 15y ago
    Trying to circumvent their decision like this is going to make things worse with them, not better. Try and work with them, not against them. If that fails, move on. You miht be overestimating the value of Facebook for additional traffic.

DiabloD3 15y ago

Businesses and websites really need to quit putting their faith in FB. When their accounts get closed like Mojvideo's, it affects their brand viability in a negative way. Getting banned by FB is the new getting banned by PayPal.

CWIZO 15y ago
I agree. Most of our traffic comes from search engines and loyal users. But off course we used FB to promote our page too, we would be stupid not to.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

jschuur 15y ago

How long has it been since your appeal?

CWIZO 15y ago
Couple of hours. I know, I know. But we all know how things are with this things. My boss recently got his account locked, and then he got un-locked 14 days later without any explanation (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493877 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493877). So I'm just trying to speed things up.
- jschuur 15y ago
  Well, it is (was) the weekend after all. Nothing wrong about soliciting for feedback on HN, but some context like thisnis useful.

gojomo 15y ago

Keep in mind the coverage a few weeks ago that indicated there are some automated/judgement-less processes at Facebook, based on number of complaints/flags, that can take Pages down. See for example: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2494231 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2494231 So don't assume Facebook has already judged you; as soon as someone there looks at it, it may get fixed. (Sucks in the meantime, but like Google and Craigslist, outsourcing lots of the moderation to the semi-anonymous masses can generate collateral damage even if it usually is a win.)

kmfrk 15y ago

Try asking on Quora. It's a longshot, but there are a couple of people on Facebook who check it regularly.

adaml_623 15y ago

Do you have any guesses why you were banned? Maybe Facebook has the impression that all the Pokemon videos available on your site are copyright violations or something? I'm not sure whether that kind of stuff is illegal to host where you are but it's the kind of thing that companies seem to care about these days.

CWIZO 15y ago
If I had to guess I would wager that this is a result of someone sharing a video that had some naked ladies in it, and some other users then flagged that as spam/abuse. So it was completely automated probably.

nedwin 15y ago

You need to get in touch with an account manager. They're actually really easy to deal with if you know the right combination of words, as with most things. We managed to get a clients FB page vanity URL switched from an old page to a new page within about half an hour of sending an email - something we thought was a long shot. Hit me up if you need a hand, my email is in my profile.

CWIZO 15y ago
I've sent you a email, cheers!
- nedwin 15y ago
  and replied. Good luck Jan!
  - vipivip 15y ago
    I'll send you an email, I paid for an ad on Facebook then my account was blocked for making fraudulent activity, not sure what I did wrong because I used my Paypal account to pay for the ad.

leon_ 15y ago

This may sound a little harsh but: That's the risk with putting all your eggs into someone else's basket. Especially if that someone is a faceless corporation with famous bureaucracy. FB closed my account earlier this year too, because I have an uncommon/strange middle name. It led to 7 iOS apps not having any FB support for several days. No, the FB acc wasn't reopened - I just uploaded new versions to the app store with FB support removed. But I was sort of prepared for that and never gave the FB integration a prominent place in my apps - so users weren't that upset when it went away. (I got burnt the first time around 2002 when Google decided to close my Adsense account because our color scheme was "mis leading" users. Adsense was at that time my only (but good paying) income and suddenly losing all of your income was a hard lesson to learn.) I don't know your site/app but maybe you should (after you get the stuff sorted out) over think your investment in FB for your future projects. (I'm sure you aren't desperate for no reason.) Btw. FB answered my request 3 weeks later with a form letter asking me for a copy of my ID. I didn't react to that but I have the feeling that it would have taken another weeks and form letters to sort the situation out.

CWIZO 15y ago
I agree with you completely. And like I've said a couple of times in this thread, we didn't put all our eggs in FB's basket. And my desperation didn't come from the fact that now we are screwed (which we aren't), but from the fact that I know what hell I'll have to go trough to get the matter sorted out.

joshmlewis 15y ago

Facebook likewise took my page down. It was going viral. I "appealed" it but never heard anything. I wish I could get it back.

CWIZO 15y ago

Ha, FB un-banned us. No response from them, the bann was just magically lifted. If somebody here had something to do with it then I really can't express my gratitude!! I just hope this does not happen again.