My condolences if your account was banned, but it might not be a time for grieving yet. There are actions to take, and you have already made one by finding this article. We’ll show you what can still be done.
Three types of bans
Instagram is inclined to keep users on the platform, so bans don’t come unexpectedly. They are issued after a breach of Instagram’s community rules or terms of use. A good idea is to get yourself familiar with them.
Of course, if your account is already banned, it’s too late to read the rules. It’s then more important to know what kind of ban you have. There are two main ways Instagram can ban your account and a partial one.
An action block is a restriction for your activity on Instagram. It can include liking, following, posting and anything else. Usually, it’s a time-limited restriction, and you are informed about this once you log in to your account.
This type of ban is caused by using bots or other automation services. Such tools allow you to perform actions in an efficient but unnatural way. For example, if 200 posts are liked in one minute, Instagram might limit this feature to you.
An IP ban is a more serious threat and commonly arises when you repeatedly violate the rules. It blocks any connection to Instagram originating from your IP address. If a blacklisted IP is involved, access is denied, no matter what device or connection method you’ll use.
Even worse is that other accounts connecting with the same IP will get banned also. But that’s the idea of the Instagram IP ban – to restrict your access regardless of anything. In most cases, there is no communication, they just outright ban you, and that’s it.
In between action and address bans, there’s a shadowban. It’s a clever way for social media platforms to limit activity without tipping users off about their misdeeds. Mostly, it relates to the visibility of your posts. You can publish new ones, but Instagram won’t promote them.
How to tell which ban was used?
An action ban is the easiest to notice – you’ll receive a notification after logging in or attempting to use a blocked feature. Instagram will tell you that action is temporarily blocked and will give you an expiration date.
If no timeframe is mentioned, it usually lasts 24 hours. However, some bans might take up to 30 days. In rare cases, users get banned from a certain action permanently.
A shadowban is intentionally made hard to notice, and Instagram won’t tell you about it. You can only test the visibility of your posts yourself. Make a post while using a common but not very popular hashtag, and ask other users to search for it using the hashtag.
Make sure the ones searching for your post aren’t following you. Ask at least ten people, but the more, the better. If none of them can find your post – you have been shadowbanned. If your post is only visible to some of them, it might signal some other shortcomings of the post.
An IP ban is only sometimes followed by communication informing you about it, but they will make it seem as if there are connection problems. To differentiate, you can try to use the same IP differently and know for sure.
- Log in with a different web browser or clean cookies on the old one and try to connect.
- Use a different device, but the same internet connection.
If you cannot log in with both methods and there’s no Instagram outage – you have an IP ban.
Logging in with a different account from the same IP is not advisable, as that account will likely be banned also. The only way to bypass the IP ban and use Instagram with other accounts is to use proxies, and it brings us to our first solution.
Resolving an IP ban with proxies
A proxy acts as an intermediary for your connection to Instagram. It hides your IP address and shows only that of a proxy server. With a proxy, Instagram won’t know that your original IP address is banned. So, you will be able to access accounts that are not banned from the same connection.
It is advisable to use proxies as a precaution if you are at risk of a ban. With proxies, you can connect to every account from a different IP. So even if one account will be IP banned, the others won’t. Specialized residential proxies are best for this task. They are verified by internet service providers and ensure legitimacy.
Some advise to use VPNs for hiding your IP, but this is not a viable solution. While VPNs are good for hiding your identity in other cases, they don’t work well with social media platforms. Their IPs come from data centers and are easily recognized by protective services, such as Instagram.
Submitting an appeal
Submitting an appeal is an important possibility. It won’t get your account unbanned right away, but the ban might be lifted quicker. Besides, you would have to wait for the ban to end anyway. So, submit an appeal via the app or in the contact form on Instagram’s help page and try to talk it out.
In the form, you’ll have to identify yourself and leave a comment on why you are appealing their decision. Be cautious with your appeal. Don’t downplay the wrongdoings and argue. If the account is banned – you violated the Instagram rules. It’s better to accept the fact and admit the mistake.
The only exception is if you have a convincing case to build. A good idea to argue with Instagram is only when you get banned because someone else wrongfully reported you. However, you might have to give some proof regarding this, so be prepared.
Conclusion
There is no guaranteed way out of a ban, but there’s progress to be made. Even if it’s only a little bit of a short ban or knowledge of proxies for future accounts – it’s worth doing something.
