Emma Crameri
Instagram recently stopped me from liking other people’s posts and adding captions to my own photos.
I wasn’t fully blocked from using my account. I was able to post images to stories and the feed, however, I just couldn’t add a caption. To get around this, I was able to post an image and then swap to my personal account to add the first comment. (I hoped no one noticed the slight change).
I was also unable to like other people’s posts. When I attempted to do it, I got the error message: “Action Blocked. This action was blocked. Please try again later. We restrict certain content and actions to protect our community. Tell us if you think we made a mistake. Then I had two options, to hit OK or the Tell us”.
Fortunately, I could still send direct messages and talk to my friends.
I wondered if I had been shadow banned – so I searched online for the answer.
Here are some of the recommendations I found:
- Logout of your account, uninstall the app and reinstall it
- If you have used any unapproved tools, change your Instagram password right now to avoid any more damage.
- Click on settings (cog icon), then Apps and Websites – delete any apps that you no longer need. You can also check here, when you are logged in: https://www.instagram.com/accounts/manage_access/ (I discovered I’d authorised access to WordPress.com, Linktree, Gleam Competitions, Intellifuence, Zipkick, Test2 (random!), Zomato, Buffer, Hootsuite, theright.fit, Influence.co, Iconsquare Pro (unused widget), Commission Factory Dashboard, Spout Social, Fohr, Plann, Social Soup Connector. Ekk – some these had to go!!)
- Alex Tooby says “Yes, there are limits to how many actions you can take per day on Instagram. This includes the amount of photos you like, the amount of comments you leave and how many people you follow or unfollow. Depending on the age of your account, your limits may be different but in most cases you shouldn’t exceed 150 likes, 60 comments and 60 follows/unfollows per hour.”
I assumed the ban would only last a couple of weeks – and a break from posting was kind of nice. After a month I started to get more worried, so I did some more research. I started to think I had accidentally used a blocked hashtag or hit a limit.
I clicked on the settings (cog icon), then “Report a Problem” and I wrote them a short but succinct email about my issue.
This restricted access lasted around 6 weeks. Fortunately, one day (about a week later after ‘Reporting a Problem’), without any notification, I was back in business and could use the full functionality of Instagram.
Please leave a comment if you believe you have been shadow banned or restricted on Instagram, and how you resolved it?
Instagram Help:
https://help.instagram.com/
Instagram Platform Policy:
https://www.instagram.com/about/legal/terms/api/
Yes this too happened to me but it lasted 6 months. I deleted the account and made a new one! It was very frustrating
I just created my new Instagram and this happened. I try to add a caption and I get the Error message that is action has been blocked. This is very frustrating. Now I’m afraid I am going to delete and try all over again
How can Instagram expect new business to use the platform if they block the only functions available to build a viable following.
I have been seeing this happening recently with a handful of accounts I’m following. Whatever triggers this algorithm is happening a lot more often in the network we’ve built with BLM. It is hurting Independent bookstores and photographers the most, but also personal accounts. I’d like more transparency from IG.
I’m having the same issue! It’s started a new business and it’s not easy getting followers. I’ve invested so much time and effort in this account I can’t just delete it and make a new one. This happened yesterday and the only thing I did different was connect my Instagram to my Facebook page. I don’t know if there is a connection but that’s all I’ve done. Ive reported the problem as u suggested. Let’s hope it’s resolved!
Thanks for all of the comments. Sorry, I can’t help any further with specific technical issues, but it might help other readers to come back and let us know it was resolved successfully.
This is happening to me right now. The last 5-6 days I cannot like or comment , I cannot add people, I cannot post anything with a caption or tag. This happened without any warning and I only get a message that Instagram is restricting certain activity to protect the community. I have reported the problem twice but I got no feedback. There are so many accounts that keep posting about sex and nude photos and the “bad ones” are the users that are just active???? I create and share content frequently and try to support lots of people that transforming their lives. Apparently I should “shut it up” and think only about myself. That’s not community oriented solution.
yep same thing with me. i can put up a photo but cannot leave a caption or description with it or hashtags. i also cannot like / make a reply to anyone who comments on my photo. grrrrrrr 🙁 i get error messages. 1 says “there was an error saving your changes” 2. we restrict certain activities…..” SO MAD! wtheck is going on. im an animal rights advocate and use IG for this purpose.
I recently noticed this happen to me and this is so frustrating considering that I don’t want to start from zero. I have send a send message like you suggested and hopefully I get respond. 🙁
Today I recently noticed I couldn’t add a caption to my photos or even like anything. This is so frustrating. I follow all your suggestions and even send a report hopefully I get a response soon.
This is happening to me right now. Can’t post caption, like posts, or reply to comments. My account is a personal account about food and I only post once in a while. Hardly ever like, or even comments on other people’s posts. I don’t see why this is happening to me and not actual bot accounts :(( So frustrating.
The exact same thing happened to me on August 29th, here it is September 18th and I’m still in the doghouse – everyone told me it should end after two weeks, but no such luck. I guess I’ll look sometime around Hallowe’en to see if I’m ready to go again? I followed all the suggestions you had, and similarly found no change. It may have been due to too many hashtags or too many tagged profiles, but it never was a problem before, I would just be prevented from posting until I edited it. But, because of that, I deleted the image that showed up with no caption and reposted with similar captioning, as I didn’t know it might have been a problem, and it happened again. So I deleted and reposted a third time, this time with only very simple text in the caption, no hashtags, no tagging of profiles, and the same thing – so it may think I’m a bot. *sigh* it’s not even a commercial account, just personal. And it really REALLY sucks that they give no way to properly contact them.
I am managing instagram account for a business and i am in a tough spot because i just started out a week ago and then this happened. I cant post any captions to any post i make on instagram, nor can anyone else who has access to the account. If somebody got something working for them, please help me. I can still like, and post but cant comment
I manage a business account. We have been promoting diversity in the crypto space. Over the past week when I try and post I get the same notification that it goes against “community guidelines.” I’ve reported but nothing has happened.
Very annoying. We have had a lot of comments like that.