In the world of social media, there are very few things that are as awful as having a social media account get banned from a platform. Content creators, in particular, get scared of the possibility of getting permabanned from platforms. And you know what? They have every reason to be terrified of this.
A friend of mine told me about a very popular anti-cult poster who wrote heavily on Medium. Things were going well until they mentioned one particular organization (I’m not even sure that it was a cult!) in their comments. Mods saw that and they were permabanned from the site overnight.
No warning was given. One day she woke up to the announcement that she was banned. She tried to appeal it, but it didn’t work. This writer never wrote on Medium again, primarily because she literally couldn’t write for them if she tried. Apparently, she sorely misses the community.
The truth is that losing access to a social media site can cripple your career. If your business account gets banned, it can also destroy your company’s ability to make sales and advertise. While the best thing you can do is try to prevent that from happening by abiding by terms and conditions.
However, we all know that even rule-abiding accounts can get banned from time to time. So, how do you recover as a content creator when your account gets banned on social media? Here’s my advice.
#1: Start off with prevention.
Yes, yes, I already stated the obvious: you need to not abuse social media platforms to try your hardest to avoid getting permabanned. However, that’s not the only prevention you should do. You should build up each content platform with the assumption that your social media could shutter overnight. This means that you should…
Assume you’ll get booted eventually.
If you were given a heads up about your impending ban a week in advance, what would you do? If it were me, I’d do the following:
- Back up my email lists ASAP. Email lists can help you get in touch with fans when you can’t get on the website. Back it up every two weeks. Save it and upload it to an unconnected database because if you get banned from a site, they won’t let you log back in to get those emails!
- Make sure to advertise your presence on other sites. Having a Linktree account is amazing for his because it gives people all the different ways to reach you at your fingertips. Of course, you can also have other similar accounts too.
- Have a backup account if necessary. In some content creation fields, this is an obvious part of your marketing campaign.
- Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Did I mention this yet? Yeah. For real, crosspost your stuff.
Backup your content before it happens.
This is actually something we all need to do occasionally as content creators. If you lose your content, you are screwed. You lose years upon years’ worth of work that you put in. So, you need to make sure you back it up every month or so.
There are several ways to do this, depending on what platforms you use, but most content management systems and platforms have a streamlined way to back it up. I’ll be doing that as another article, though!
#2: Try to appeal the ban.
Once you get the ban letter, you need to appeal it. Of course, your appeal will be more likely to work if you know why you were banned in the first place. Most platforms will tell you why, but some don’t.
If you don’t know why you were banned, you should try to ask why. In some cases, this could be indicative of a glitch in the system’s platform. One of my friends actually experienced this on a writing platform because they were wrongfully labeled as spam by an AI scanner.
On sites like Reddit, appealing a ban is about as useful as trying to wipe with sandpaper. It’s not going to go well. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. If you’re banned, you don’t really have much to lose by asking the powers that be to unban you.
Appealing a ban can often work if the ban was automatic or if you didn’t actually upset someone who has serious power in the platform’s company. When appealing the ban, consider doing the following things:
- Get proof. Copy and paste proof that something you said didn’t actually go against the terms of use.
- Be polite. Cursing out mods and/or customer service crews will not yield good results and may actually get you iced out of any sort of discourse with them.
- Apologize. If you were in the wrong, you may as well be humble.
- Offer your side of the story. This rarely ever works, but sometimes, it’s good to show your side of the story.
- Consider trying again later. Sometimes, you just need to have a cool-down period in order to get on the good side of the mods. If the company switched owners recently (like X), you might be able to get unbanned by simply asking the new owners. It worked for the Krassensteins, it may work for you.
As a reminder, no platform is required to let you stay on it. None. If you get banned, that’s it. You can appeal, but that’s all you can do.
Should you sue to appeal a ban?
Here’s the thing that many people don’t realize: a social media ban might actually be a lawsuit-worthy move. If you are a member of the press, made a living on your platform, or are a public figure, you might be able to sue your way back onto the platform.
Technically, you can sue if you feel that you have been wrongfully banned due to censorship rules. It can be considered a 1st Amendment violation if you are a member of the press and were speaking out against the government.
Most of these lawsuits don’t work, though. So, just be careful. You’re likely wasting your time.
#3: Set up your account on a new platform.
Regardless of what platform you got banned from, chances are high you can find a similar platform in your field. For example, if you are banned from Medium, you might want to try Substack. If you’re banned from YouTube, going to Rumble may work.
If you’re really banned everywhere but have a good-sized following, it may make sense to just splurge on your own website so that you can platform yourself. This generally works when all else fails, provided you already have a strong following and can advertise it.
When setting up your account, you want to preserve as much of your brand as humanly possible. This means you:
- Keep your username the same. There are some exceptions here, such as if you have multiple brands or publications on the same post. If just one publication or account got banned, use the same username as before.
- Use the same logo. You want to make your brand consistent. So, keep your logo or at least keep a recognizable photo of your face as part of the brand.
- Announce that it’s you. On sites like Instagram, this is often done by saying, “Deleted at 5.5K fans.”
#4: Transfer old content to your new platform.
Remember that tip I made about the old content being backed up? Here’s where it comes into play,. When you get banned from a platform, you need to transfer your content over to a new platform such as Medium, WordPress, or Substack immediately.
The sooner you transfer your content over, the better. Most search engines will start to redirect traffic from your old titles over to the new platform. This helps “seed” your new platform with content, giving you the appearance of having been there for a longer time.
Along with your content, you should try to transfer over subscribers if you can. Most online platforms no longer allow you to do that, though!
#5: Announce your ban and transition to your followers and fans.
Once everything has transitioned, it’s time to announce to your fans and followers what happened and where you are. Let’s talk about this.
What should you say?
This is up to you. At a bare minimum, you need to tell your fans and followers where you are. Delivering that message should be fairly open and honest about where you’re at and what happened.
Should you say you were banned?
Yes, typically. People are going to ask what happened and why you’re making the switch. You might as well beat them to the punch and be honest. Here’s a quick blurb that you can use (or prepare) for almost any platform:
“Hey fans, you might be wondering why you can’t find my work on [platform]. The truth is that I’ve been banned from said platform. I am [or am not] trying to appeal this decision and while I’m not sure that it’ll work, I am still going to continue making content.
If you love my content, you can now find me on [new platform] with the handle [your handle].”
You do not have to explain why you were banned. In many cases, you might not even know what caused the ban.
Should you say you were wrongfully banned?
This is up to you. More often than not, people will be able to figure out whether it was a deserved ban or not. If you believe you were banned for political reasons, it may actually be a good move to mention that to your fans.
Calling out a platform for shadowbanning you or outright banning you can help your fans rally around your brand. However, I’d suggest doing this only after you have tried to appeal the ban and failed.
Ask for support and thank your fans!
After saying that, it’s important to ask people to support you on the new platform. A lot of people assume that you’re going to be good if you just made the switch. As many creators know, a ban can be a massive blow to your career and no, you’re not always going to be okay.
#6: Update your links.
Let’s finish up this article with the last step: updating your link lists. If you have a Linktree or something similar, you need to remove the link of the platform you’re banned from and add the link to your new platform.
This is part of being a creator that is pretty easy to do. The faster you do this, the faster you’ll be able to get the results you want.
Bonus #7: Rally other creators around you.
So I’ll be honest: a ban on a platform is not small potatoes. It’s a big deal. A very big deal. It’s a potentially career-ending moment and if you are a full-time creator, you might want to have others rally around you. By the time you have a decent amount followers, you will meet other creators and you will network around them.
You may want to reach out to other creators, especially if you feel you’ve been wrongfully banned or singled out. Here’s what you can do to help them help you:
- Tell them about the ban. Give them the full details and warn them if you think they may be next.
- Ask them to shout you out or collaborate off-platform. You will be surprised at how many creators will want to collaborate with you or show solidarity with you once you explain the details. Most of us know that level of hurt and will do what we can to help stop these things from happening.
- Tell them why it may be good for them to promote you and uplift you. They could be you tomorrow, especially if you were unfairly ousted.
As with all things, networking and raising awareness is key. If you get enough creators rallying behind you, the transition to the new platform will be smooth and the old platform will be stuck with a major PR crisis on their hands. Recovering from getting banned off a social media platform is rough, but having lots of support can make things way easier.
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