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SUBMIT A CASE
How to challenge your Instagram Account Suspension?

Your Instagram account has been suspended, possibly even without prior warning or a clear explanation. From one day to another you lose personal contacts, memories, professional networks, or even entire businesses. 

There are several ways to challenge a suspension, including filing an appeal directly with Instagram or taking legal action in court. Since the introduction of the Digital Services Act (DSA), you now have an additional option: you can contact a certified out-of-court dispute resolution body such as User Rights. Through this procedure, you can quickly, easily, and free of charge have your case reviewed to determine whether the account suspension was justified, including an assessment by our independent legal experts.

In this guide, we explain step by step how to proceed against a suspension and how to best prepare a complaint with User Rights. We also provide important background information on why Instagram suspends accounts and what rights you have.

1. Find out why your account was suspended and whether User Rights can review your case 2. Create an Instagram Reference Number 3. Secure Evidence 4. Explain Why you Disagree and Submit Your Case 5. Check Your Emails Regularly
1. Find out why your account was suspended and whether User Rights can review your case
1

Access Your Instagram Account Status 

  • Via the Instagram app (mobile) follow the steps or see the guide here: Tap the profile icon in the bottom right > tap the menu icon ☰ in the top right > tap “Account Status” under “More info and support.”
  • Via mobile web browser: Tap the profile icon in the bottom right > tap “Settings” in the top left > tap “Account Status” under “More info and support.”
  • Via web browser (e.g. laptop or desktop): Click the menu icon ☰ in the bottom left > click “Settings” > click “Account Status” at the bottom under “More info and support.”
2

Identify the Policy Cited 

Under “Why this happened,” you should see the following message: “We reviewed your account and found that it doesn't follow our Community Standards on [name of the policy].” To identify the relevant policy, click “Read more about this rule.” 

notif_accountsuspension_en1 1
notif_accountsuspension_en2

Note: If no specific policy is named in the notification and Instagram only states that your content does not comply with the Community Standards, we can still help you. Simply mention this later in our online form.

3

Check Whether User Right Can Review Your Case

Once you know the policy violation that triggered the suspension, you can determine whether your case falls within the scope of User Rights’ certification.

We cannot review:

  • content involving depictions of sexual abuse or exploitation of children (e.g. when Instagram’s policy on “Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Nudity” applies),
  • suspensions based exclusively on user behavior, such as creating a new account to circumvent previous restrictions or mass spam distribution via bots.

User Rights reviews only account suspensions that result from the publication of specific content, for example the repeated posting of comments that violate the hate speech policy.

A current overview of Instagram’s Community Guidelines and the legal provisions that User Rights is certified to review can be found here.

2. Create an Instagram Reference Number

Click this link to generate your personal reference number and include it in our online form. We can process your case even without a reference number, but having one makes communication with Meta faster and more efficient – which also benefits you during the complaint process.

3. Secure Evidence

If you would like to submit your case through our procedure free of charge, wish to use our free support, you must provide certain information about your case and about yourself via our online form. In particular, we need screenshots of the notification about the account suspension. Without these, we cannot review your case. 

Important: We can only process your case if the account suspension occurred within the last six months.

💡Tip: Good screenshots make it easier to process your case

The quality and completeness of your screenshots determine whether our dispute resolution experts can review your case. Please ensure that your screenshots:

  • are clearly legible (not blurry, not photographed),
  • contain all relevant information (see the screenshot checklist)
  • are complete and not cropped in important areas.

Please upload the following evidence

4. Explain Why you Disagree and Submit Your Case

After uploading all required evidence via our online form, you can explain your situation in more details. In a text field, you can describe why you disagree with the platform’s decision and what impact the account suspension has had on you.

The more context and detail you provide, the better our dispute resolution experts can assess and process your case.

Important: If Instagram has taken multiple actions against you – e.g. a temporary account suspension and the deletion of a post – you must submit a separate complaint for each individual action via our online form. Because we review each platform action separately, we cannot process combined procedures.

SUBMIT A CASE

Submit your case for any of the following platforms:

5. Check Your Emails Regularly

Throughout the entire procedure, we will keep you informed by email. If we require additional information or further evidence, we will contact you directly.

Please also check your spam  folder regularly so you don’t miss any important messages from us.

Please note that in some cases, processing may take longer. We are required to issue a decision within a maximum of 90 days. In highly complex cases, processing may take up to 180 days. As soon as new information becomes available, we will inform you immediately.

What Happens After I Submit My Case to User Rights?

After you submit your case via our online form, we review your information and forward it to Instagram. The platform is then given the opportunity to respond to your complaint and further explain its decision. In some cases, Instagram already lifts the original measure at this stage.

Instagram usually has seven days to respond. Upon request, this deadline can be extended by up to 14 days.

Next, User Rights examines whether Instagram’s Community Standards justify the account suspension in the specific case and whether the decision was lawful. We also consider the requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA): your fundamental rights as well as the platform’s rights. Even if the guidelines generally allow an account suspension, User Rights may recommend restoring your account if the decision is incompatible with your European fundamental rights.

Out-of-court dispute resolution procedures, such as those offered by User Rights are completely free of charge. Our decisions are not binding in the same way as court judgments. However, Instagram is required to cooperate with certified dispute resolution bodies such as User Rights.

Please note: In addition to proceedings with User Rights, you may at any time pursue legal action or file a complaint with the competent Digital Services Coordinator. In Germany, this is the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).


 

FAQ: Restoring an Instagram Account