The suspension of social media accounts has become a prevalent issue, with users encountering challenges in accessing their Facebook and Instagram accounts due to alleged violations of Meta platform regulations. These increased suspensions occur amid European legislation, such as the Digital Services Act, that aims to address these situations and offer remedies for affected users.
The suspension of social media accounts has become a prevalent issue, with users encountering challenges in accessing their Facebook and Instagram accounts due to alleged violations of Meta platform regulations. These increased suspensions occur amid European legislation, such as the Digital Services Act, that aims to address these situations and offer remedies for affected users.
An online search indicates that many users have encountered similar issues with social media platforms. Several users reported receiving a notification indicating that their Facebook account was suspended when attempting to log in. The reasons for the suspension relate to an unrelated Instagram account associated with the user's Facebook account not adhering to platform rules, or an unexpected violation of Facebook's Community Standards.
A user even managed to sue Facebook in the US for suspending his account for no reason, aside from alleging a violation of its standards. While Facebook was ordered to pay $50,000 to the user after failing to even respond to the lawsuit filed, Facebook also failed to pay the amount ordered. Instead, the platform reactivated the user’s account.
A class action against Facebook was even initiated accusing the giant social media platform of failing to protect user’s accounts against an increased occurrence of hacking instances. The lawsuit also remarks on the lack of assistance to users who are locked out of their accounts.
When businesses are faced with a suspended account, the main aim of any business is to identify legal actions to recover access to their accounts. Generally, businesses may consider the following legal avenues:
Breach of Contract Claims:
Facebook's terms of service, including its Community Standards, appear to be the main ground on which accounts are being suspended. Naturally, these terms constitute a contract between the platform and its users. If a business believes that Facebook has unjustly suspended its account, it may consider grounds to claim a breach of contract. This would involve demonstrating that Facebook did not adhere to its own terms and conditions or perhaps even acted in bad faith. The class action lawsuit instituted against Facebook in California, makes reference to the violation of Meta’s own terms of service and its ultimate breach of its contract with users, particularly when failing to allow its users to recover access to their accounts.
European Digital Services Laws:
With the new Digital Services Act (DSA) targeting large online platforms, including social media platforms such as Facebook, additional legal remedies are available for businesses faced with suspended accounts. The DSA imposes specific obligations on social media platforms such as Facebook. Should these platforms fail to adhere to these obligations, a clear breach of the DSA creates a further legal avenue for businesses to pursue.
Businesses who rely significantly, if not solely, on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to attract and advertise their services and products may be significantly affected by such situations. Losing access to social media accounts may be catastrophic for business operations, particularly if business contacts, data, client contacts, company pages are all accessible through a social media account.
Using social media platforms for business marketing or management necessitates careful consideration by business owners. Some tips which may help businesses continue operating should access to their social media accounts be suspended or restricted include:
Our team of technology and data lawyers leverage their specialized knowledge in these fields to help clients recover suspended social media accounts. Our recent achievements in lifting suspensions and restrictions on Facebook accounts for clients illustrate that viable solutions exist for businesses encountering such challenges.
Reach out to us to understand how you can recover your social media accounts and protect your business information on social media platforms.
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