If you do not behave according to Facebook's rules, the social media platform may decide to block your account. What then happens in such a situation? Can you still access your data? And is it possible to lift the block?
Autonomous
The fact that Facebook is nothing more than a big website is actually quite a big deal. Because Facebook is huge, there are millions of interests within the company, and in theory there is only one man in charge: Marck Zuckerberg. This means that there is no authority above Facebook that can force the company to reactivate a blocked account, after all, Facebook decides itself what it does with the users on its network.
In theory, you could make a case for racism or any other form of discrimination, or you could require Facebook to let you know why your account was blocked under the Data Protection Act, but the fact is that it all takes time and energy ( and money), and it is highly doubtful that you will ever achieve anything with it.
You are blocked forever
When you search Google for things you can do when your account is blocked, you will often read that a blocked account can never be reactivated. That is patently untrue. The only thing that applies to Facebook is that a deleted account can never be recovered, but deleting is something you do yourself.
The fact is, however, that Facebook is fairly stiff when it comes to blocked accounts. Often times, the company won't even let you know why you've been blocked, just that it's because you've violated the terms of use (which can be done easily through an installed app that gave you access to your account).
The bad thing is that breaking the rules by Facebook is considered so serious that you are no longer allowed to create a new account. In short, it is worth fighting a block in any case, even if your chances are slim, depending on 'the violation'.
Complain, moan, object
A block of your Facebook account is usually not temporary, that is, if you do nothing, your account will remain blocked and will be deleted over time. There's a page you can visit when your account is locked out, that's the first step you should take, if only to make sure you've gone the official way before venturing into other ways.
Usually you will receive a reply from Facebook within a few days, but rarely will that answer be 'sorry, here's your account back'. As a rule, you will be fobbed off with a meaningless standard e-mail, but very occasionally it can be enough (in the case of a minor violation) to breathe new life into your account.
If you don't get any further in this way, it's time to escalate further. Go wild on social media like Twitter (not in an insulting way, but repeatedly ask for feedback and complain in a constructive way), and keep messaging Facebook until you get somewhere. After all, the difficult customer is helped first. It's really the only way to have a chance at a recovered account at all.
