3

Recently I got my account closed in Facebook. 5 days ago, I received an email which said someone posted copyrighted material in a group I'm administrator of, and that "it was a serious violation of terms of use". I couldnt even see what the user I dont even know posted, because they deleted it. Today, I can't access my account, at first I thought it could be Facebook was down like 10 days ago, but it says my account was disabled, the decision is permanent (I can't appeal) and that they can't tell me why for "security reasons". I suspect it could be related with that incident 5 days ago, but the case is I don't really know why and they refuse to tell me. Is this even legal? Why do terms of use exists, if they can remove your account arbitrarily without even the possibility of defend yourself?

Pablo
  • 1,019
  • 8
  • 22
  • @trish Not really. I know people (not personally) who got their accounts restored after sending a demand to Facebook. Of course, I don't have the resources they have to hire a top lawyer to do that, but one of them even threatened Facebook with a criminal lawsuit (yes, criminal) to the people who managed moderation in his country, and got his account restored very briefly after that – Pablo Mar 15 '24 at 19:39
  • 2
    Hiring a lawyer doesn't mean you have a right. – Trish Mar 15 '24 at 19:51
  • @Trish That's obvious, but the best of them know how to work around laws and things like that. It worked for him – Pablo Mar 15 '24 at 21:23
  • @Pablo when you say "got his account restored very briefly after that" do you mean it was then closed again? Or do you mean it was restored very quickly? – Weather Vane Mar 15 '24 at 22:25
  • 2
    "Why do terms of use exists?" These will list the usual reasons, but it's not always possible to anticipate all possible misuses. – Barmar Mar 15 '24 at 22:37
  • 3
    Remember, you have no fundamental right to an account on these services. – Barmar Mar 15 '24 at 22:38
  • 1
    Businesses are generally free to refuse services to anyone they wish (excepting e.g. discrimination). I would imagine websites are much the same. – John Gordon Mar 16 '24 at 00:42
  • Whether or not Facebook is a "public website" is irrelevant. To use their website, you must agree to THEIR terms of service, which was violated. You can try to appeal and may even win, but legally they can pretty much do what they want when it comes to accounts. – Keltari Mar 18 '24 at 20:37
  • @Keltari well, their terms of use werent violated, and they can't do whatever they want, I've seen several times how users to judges from third world countries have made them obey their demands. BTW, I have found that my account was hacked by a hacker which advertises its application through their own Facebook ads. For example, an user from Argentina has made them restore their account inmediately after threating them with a criminal lawsuit for violating his constitutional rights in Argentina, a judge from a small town from Argentina has forced them to comply too... – Pablo Mar 18 '24 at 22:23
  • ... recently in Twitter a judge from Brazil has forced them to change their terms of use when applied to Brazil, etc. So no, they can't do whatever they want at all, it seems the lawyers from other countries aren't very good with regards to these things – Pablo Mar 18 '24 at 22:28
  • here you have a new in spanish how someone got his account back after a lawsuit . there it doesnt tell the details but I remember he told they sent a letter to the offices of Facebook in Argentina, telling them that they could en in jail if they didnt comply https://elnuevodiario.com.do/agustin-laje-recupera-su-cuenta-de-instagram-tras-un-mes-de-suspension/ – Pablo Mar 18 '24 at 22:52

0 Answers0