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It's been a week since my accounts on Facebook and Instagram, 2 personal, 6 business and 2 FB groups, were all banned and blocked.
I was actually on my Facebook account when obviously a hacker posted sex videos from Asia on my account and I got 6 warnings that I was "breaking Community standards". I clicked on one of the warnings which showed 2 seconds of the sex video (Which obviously wasn't mine!) and the next second, my account logged off and I wasn't able to log back in.
The app required me to verify my identity with a Drivers License or Passport picture, which I immediately did. An email followed saying I had to wait 24 hours for approval.
I received an email the next day saying the "decision was final" and I could appeal if I wanted to. I tried doing that through the Facebook page and was blocked from moving forward.
With the mindset of there has to be a way to get past the AI bot that had blocked my account I had since 2007, I then proceeded to spend HOURS on forums reading similar stories of people who, in a moment, lost everything.
I have tried multiple times this week to appeal with the same COVID apology popping up.
I see I am not the only one.
What I have learned: Don't build your castle on shifting sand.
None of us pay anything to have an account on Facebook. It's not a service that Facebook is beholden to us to provide.
It's a luxury, a nicety, that MILLIONS of people have built their businesses on (myself included) and yet, it can be taken in an instance.
There is no support, chat, email or contact -- anywhere. Believe me, I searched high and low.
My best friend's brother actually works for Facebook and in a "Hail Mary", I reached out to him and he had nothing.
It's a strange reality we live in. These large companies offering these platforms that none of the real estate we build is actually our own.
I have, of course, felt the gamut of emotions.
And, in the end, I must pivot - not personally - because personally, it is a relief, but for my businesses ...... onwards and upwards.
Trusting that everything happens FOR me and not TO me.
Leave a comment if you too find yourself in this situation. My hallucination is that it is much more common for us "regular folk" out there than we realize.
MOTTO: Back up your data today! And find a safe space - Mighty Networks?
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