Facebook locked me out.
Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2024 4:42 pm
So about six weeks ago I visited my Facebook page to do a chat with my niece. Her mother, my sister, died, and I wanted to get in contact with my niece about the arrangements. After logging in, I was immediately greeted with a "your access is blocked" due to some deal about a person on my friends list doing something sketchy. Nice, but what does that have to do with me? Everyone on my friends list is either family or old school friends, a total of eleven people some of whom have passed. I have a dozen old pictures of my cats or things, and only two with my face (this is important later). I only use FB to chat with what's left of my family or couple of friends, otherwise I really don't care two shits other than I've been on FB about fifteen years, back when it was definitely a different and friendlier platform.
An email was sent to my regular email account to lodge an appeal, and for the sake of the little list of friends I decided to take it. I imagined it was as simple as logging into their appeal page and stating the facts ("either remove the block or I bale out of this sad old platform"). I do the MFA with my listed phone number, then the appeal page tells me I have to submit a video of my face. This I will *not* do.
First, there are only two pictures of me on FB, one from my graduation group photo from 44 years ago, and a very grainy photo of me with my then alive siblings from 30 years ago after my mother died. No other picture! I look very different than from so long ago, a little chubbier and a whole lot more grey. So what does a video of my face now prove? I also do not want my video to be used for any purposes other than to lodge the stupid appeal, for whatever purposes Meta and Zuckerberg believe it should be used for instead. I'm not sure I should trust Meta anymore, just like I definitely don't trust X, the former Twitter, and never did. I don't like that I (or anyone else) am now being used more for a sales opportunity rather than as a valued platform member.
So..., should I just bale on FB now and leave the Zuck behind?
PS: I've been in contact with the rest of the people on my FB friends list, and not a one of them has been blocked or told to file any appeal. Just me, for something they claim is due to a person on my list.
An email was sent to my regular email account to lodge an appeal, and for the sake of the little list of friends I decided to take it. I imagined it was as simple as logging into their appeal page and stating the facts ("either remove the block or I bale out of this sad old platform"). I do the MFA with my listed phone number, then the appeal page tells me I have to submit a video of my face. This I will *not* do.
First, there are only two pictures of me on FB, one from my graduation group photo from 44 years ago, and a very grainy photo of me with my then alive siblings from 30 years ago after my mother died. No other picture! I look very different than from so long ago, a little chubbier and a whole lot more grey. So what does a video of my face now prove? I also do not want my video to be used for any purposes other than to lodge the stupid appeal, for whatever purposes Meta and Zuckerberg believe it should be used for instead. I'm not sure I should trust Meta anymore, just like I definitely don't trust X, the former Twitter, and never did. I don't like that I (or anyone else) am now being used more for a sales opportunity rather than as a valued platform member.
So..., should I just bale on FB now and leave the Zuck behind?
PS: I've been in contact with the rest of the people on my FB friends list, and not a one of them has been blocked or told to file any appeal. Just me, for something they claim is due to a person on my list.