Facebook disabled for 'account integrity': what Meta means and the evidence that helps

When Facebook says it disabled your account for “account integrity”, it is pointing to Meta’s Account Integrity policy, which judges the account as a whole rather than a single post. The policy lets Meta disable accounts for serious or repeated violations, for links to an account that was already disabled or attempts to get around enforcement, and for a few off-platform and legal reasons. The evidence that helps is evidence about the account itself: who owns it, what is connected to it, and what happened around the date it was disabled.

The short answer

• What it means: Meta judged the account itself, not one post.
• The three grounds: serious or persistent violations; evasion, such as a link to a disabled account; and off-platform or legal reasons.
• The route: log in and follow the appeal prompt. Facebook allows 180 days to appeal a suspension, and the period varies by region.
• The evidence: an ID that matches the profile, proof of a takeover if there was one, and an honest account of your other profiles and assets.
• Do not: open a new account, buy an “aged” one, or hand your login to anyone who promises to fix it.

What the Account Integrity policy covers

Meta’s Account Integrity policy opens with its aim: “we restrict or remove accounts that are harmful to the community.” It says enforcement is designed to be proportional to the severity of the violation, the history of violations on the account, and the risk or harm to the community. It then lists the accounts Meta may restrict or disable, in three groups.

1. Violations serious or persistent enough to judge the whole account. Accounts that:

• violate the Community Standards involving egregious harms, including those Meta refers to law enforcement;
• violate the Advertising Standards involving deceptive or dangerous business harms;
• persistently violate the Community Standards by posting violating content and/or managing violating entities or business assets;
• persistently violate the Advertising Standards;
• demonstrate activity or behavior indicative of a clear violating purpose;
• belong to users under 18 who persistently post or share content that is not age-appropriate.

2. Evasion. Accounts that are:

• owned by the same person or entity as an account that has been disabled;
• created or repurposed to evade a previous account or entity removal, including those assessed to have common ownership and content with removed accounts;
• created to contact a user who has blocked an account;
• otherwise used to evade Meta’s enforcement actions or review processes.

3. Off-platform and legal reasons. Accounts owned by a convicted sex offender, owned by a Designated Entity or run on its behalf, or prohibited from receiving Meta’s products, services or software under applicable laws.

The policy also names situations where Meta may ask for more information: compromised accounts, accounts created or used through automated means such as scripting, and empty accounts that have been dormant for a long time.

Which part probably applies to you

The notice rarely names the clause, so you work it out from the account’s history. In our experience, almost every account integrity case we review fits one of these patterns.

You had another account that was disabled. This is the most common one. An old profile, a second account, or an account opened after an earlier disable all fall under the evasion clause, even if the newer account did nothing wrong itself. Our guide to Facebook accounts disabled right after creation explains why that cycle keeps repeating.

You manage something that was removed. The policy’s wording, “managing violating entities or business assets”, reaches Pages, groups and ad accounts. If a Page you run was removed, or an ad account was restricted for deceptive business practices, the profile behind it can be judged too.

The account was taken over. A takeover can produce exactly the spam or violating activity the policy targets, and the policy lists compromised accounts among the cases where Meta may ask for more information. If you received security emails about a new login, email address or phone number before the disable, start with our guide to Facebook hacked and then disabled.

Automation or account trading. Scripts, posting tools that log in as you, or an account that was bought, sold or shared. Meta’s Terms of Service say you must not share your password, give access to your Facebook account to others, or transfer it to anyone else without permission. Meta’s spam policy also prohibits selling, buying or exchanging accounts.

Nothing seems to fit. It happens. Before you appeal, write down every profile, Page, group and ad account connected to you, including ones you no longer use. The answer is often somewhere on that list.

The evidence that helps

Account integrity reviews are about ownership and behavior, so evidence about the account carries more weight than arguments about content. In our experience, these are the pieces that make a reviewer’s job easier:

If the likely cause is	Evidence worth preparing
A link to another disabled account	The facts: which accounts are yours, which are not, and why a link might exist (a shared device, a family member, an old account you stopped using)
A takeover	Dates and screenshots of Facebook’s security emails, the email or phone number the attacker added, and when you lost access
A Page or ad account you manage	Which assets you manage, who else has access, and what has already been fixed
Automation	Which tool, when it was disconnected, and confirmation that it no longer has access
Any cause	An ID that matches the name and date of birth on the profile

Facebook’s list of accepted IDs allows one government ID showing your name and date of birth, or your name and a photo. Without one, you can send two different non-government documents that both show your name, with at least one showing your date of birth or photo. Upload it only inside Facebook’s own appeal screens, never to a person.

Writing the appeal

Facebook’s article on suspended or disabled accounts says you see a notice when you log in and can appeal a suspension within 180 days, a period that varies by region. If you do not appeal in time, or the appeal is not successful, the account is permanently disabled and you cannot request another review. It also notes that Facebook may disable an account without suspending it first in severe or time-sensitive cases. Meta’s page on disabling accounts adds that the login message tells you whether you can request another review.

When the appeal offers a text box, keep it short and checkable:

This is my only active Facebook account, under the name I use in everyday life, [name]. [On (date) I received security emails about a login and an email change I did not make.] [I previously had an account, (name), disabled on (date); this account was not created to get around that decision.] I do not use automation and I have not shared my login. ID attached.

Keep only the lines that are true for you. Accuracy matters more than anything else here: if you had a disabled account, say so. A reviewer who finds a link you denied has a reason to doubt everything else in the appeal. Our guide to the Facebook disabled account appeal walks through the screens and the identity check.

What makes it worse

• Opening another account. Meta’s Terms say that if it disables your account for a violation, you agree not to create another account without its permission. Under the policy, the new account is evasion, and it confirms the link you are trying to explain.
• Buying an “aged” or ready-made account. The spam policy prohibits buying and selling accounts, and a bought account carries someone else’s history.
• Handing your login to someone who promised to fix it. The Terms prohibit giving others access to your account, and people in this situation are a favorite target for recovery scams.
• Appealing again and again. The Terms prohibit misusing appeals channels with duplicative or groundless appeals.

When to get help

Account integrity is where we see the most self-inflicted damage: a second account opened in panic, or an appeal that denies a link Meta can already see. A free case review starts by mapping every account and asset connected to you, so the appeal is accurate before it is sent. Our Facebook account recovery service works only through Meta’s official review channels and makes no promises about outcomes. If the policy was genuinely broken, for example through an account created to get around an earlier disable, we will say so and decline the case.