The terms you'll meet when an Instagram account is suspended, hacked or restricted, explained in one or two sentences each.
- Suspended account
- An account Instagram has taken offline while you can still disagree with the decision. The notice shows the reason and the deadline for requesting a review.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled
- Disabled account
- An account that has been permanently taken down, usually after an appeal was rejected or the appeal deadline passed. Options are limited but not always zero.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled
- Restricted account
- An account that still works but has temporary limits on certain features, such as following, commenting, messaging or being recommended to others.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled · Reach dropped
- Account Status
- A page in Instagram's settings that shows content Instagram removed, features you can't use and whether your content and account can be recommended to people who don't follow you.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled · Reach dropped
- Recommendation eligibility ("shadowban")
- Whether your posts and account can be suggested to non-followers in places like Explore, Reels, Search and Suggested Accounts. Instagram doesn't use the word "shadowban"; Account Status shows if limits apply.
- Guides: Reach dropped
- Request a review (appeal)
- Instagram's in-app way to ask for a decision to be looked at again, for example from the suspension notice or from removed content in Account Status.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled · Reach dropped
- Video selfie
- A short video in which you turn your head in different directions, used by Instagram to confirm you're a real person and the person in the account's photos. Instagram says it's stored securely and isn't shown on your profile.
- Guides: Hacked · No access to email or phone · Scams
- Two-factor authentication (2FA)
- A second login step on top of your password, usually a code from an authentication app or a text message. It's the most effective protection against account takeovers.
- Guides: Hacked · No access to email or phone · Scams
- Backup codes
- One-time codes you can use to log in if you lose access to your two-factor method. Keep them offline and never share them with anyone.
- Guides: Hacked · No access to email or phone · Scams
- Security email
- An email Instagram sends when important account details change. Genuine ones come from security@mail.instagram.com and can include a link to secure your account or reverse the change.
- Guides: Hacked · No access to email or phone
- Accounts Center
- Meta's settings hub for connected accounts, passwords, security checks and login activity across Instagram and Facebook.
- Guides: Hacked · No access to email or phone
- Impersonation
- An account pretending to be a real person or brand in a way that could mislead people. Only the person impersonated, or their authorised representative, can use Instagram's impersonation form.
- Guides: Impersonation · Content removal
- Intellectual property report
- A report filed by a rights owner, through Meta's form, when content uses their copyrighted work or trademark without permission.
- Guides: Impersonation · Content removal
- Digital Services Act (DSA)
- An EU law that gives users rights when large platforms restrict their content or accounts, including a statement of reasons, a free internal complaint process and out-of-court dispute settlement.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled · Impersonation · Content removal
- Statement of reasons
- Under the DSA, the explanation a platform must give an EU user about what it decided and why when it restricts their content or account.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled · Content removal
- Out-of-court dispute settlement body
- An independent organisation certified under the DSA to review content moderation disputes. Bodies certified for Instagram include Appeals Centre Europe, User Rights and Platform Control. Their decisions aren't binding, but platforms must engage in good faith.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled
- Oversight Board
- An independent body that reviews some of Meta's content decisions. Instagram says you can appeal to it, within 15 days, after a decision has been upheld on a second review.
- Guides: Suspended or disabled
- Recovery scam
- A fraud targeting people who lost their account: someone claims insider access or guarantees a result, then asks for passwords, login codes or upfront payment.
- Guides: Hacked · No access to email or phone · Scams