Facebook Suspension - Part 1 & 2 of shared articles

PART 1: Shared from Facebook - the article is not an official Rotary post, however it anecdotally addresses:
1. Scammers' warnings of suspension are NOT official messages from Meta
2. How to reinstate a page that was suspended

PART 2: Topics addressed by Rotary:
3. An official message from the Manager of Social Media & Audience Development

PART 1
By Mark Huddleston | April 11, 2025

Introduction
Hi Everyone. My name is Mark, and I am an admin of the Rotary Club of Seaford (Australia) page. This message is to all of my Rotarian friends who have either already experienced the suspension of their club's Facebook page or have received messages threatening to do so.

I will stress I do not consider myself a "Facebook Expert" and am not speaking in an official RI capacity on this issue. I have had a number of people ask me about this, including a conversation with a Rotary friend over the last 24 hours, so I am simply sharing my experiences in dealing with the problem. If anyone has better advice, or knows more about these issues, I welcome their input. We're all on the same team and there may be alternative ways to address the issue.

In the last two months I have experienced my own club page being suspended for "Breaching Community Standards" and as a page admin have received multiple messages like the one in the first image attached. The most recent conversation I had with a friend concerned multiple messages like the one in the first image, threatening to suspend or deactivate her club's page. She was understandably concerned that her club was not acting on these messages. In my experience, Meta does NOT send messages warning you of an impending page suspension. Their policy is to shoot first and ask questions later. Or more accurately, shoot first and leave you to ask the questions. Only AFTER your page has been suspended, will you get an OFFICIAL message confirming this.

DO NOT DELETE THAT MESSAGE.

It has been my experience that these messages are from scammers, and are NOT an official warning from META. They often have dodgy looking sender names (which are inconsistent), and often have poor spelling or typos. There may be a link or a request to validate your login details.

DO NOT CLICK ON THESE.

Just mark them as spam. This is just another way scammers are seeking to take advantage of vulnerable people.

OK, so how do you reinstate a page that has been suspended for "Breaching Community Standards"? Meta appears to have recently changed the process by which you contest this action. The Rotary Club of Seaford has been suspended twice. The first time was over 12 months ago, and the process I went through then was different. At the time there was an option to upload a document to put your case to Meta. There has been a document shared around the traps from RI which asserted that the club in question was licensed to use Rotary marks and branding. When I uploaded that document at the time, our page was reinstated within 24 hours. I don't know for sure, but I guess a human had to read it and authorise the reinstatement.

I have been asked for that document recently, but there is a new process to follow which no longer requires the uploading of a document. I must stress that this worked for me, but I cannot guarantee it will work for everyone.

Here is the process I followed that worked:

Find the message that I highlighted above informing you that the page HAS BEEN suspended. There is an option to request a review.

We had to establish our bona fides. The method that worked for us was as follows. The website we have linked to our Facebook page in the “About” tab is www.seafordrotary.org.au

Facebook wanted to send a verification email to an email address OF THE SAME DOMAIN. For us, it is [email protected]

NOTE: If you don’t have a website declared in your About section, and don’t have access to an email address from the same domain, THIS METHOD WILL NOT WORK.

So, I entered that email address, and they sent a verification code to it. Then I entered the code, and we had our page up and running within a few hours. I then received the message in the second image attached, stating "We've found that our technology made a mistake suspending your page." And now we're all good.

I know some of you have had your page suspended for a long time. Now that the review process has changed, it may be worth trying again.

I have for a long time been calling for the secretariat to communicate directly with Meta about this issue. We're a big enough organization to be taken seriously. I don't know what efforts have been made, but pages are still being suspended, so maybe we need to try harder at the top level!

PART 2

From: Rotary Social <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2024 4:36 PM
Subject: Meta/Facebook Page Issues

Dear RI Directors,

We are aware that numerous Rotary club and district Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts have been closed by Meta without prior notice. This issue has escalated recently, and we are working closely with Meta (the company behind Facebook and Instagram) to find a solution.

While we have not yet identified the root cause or a guaranteed method for restoration, Meta did reinstate several Rotary-related pages last week at our request. With your help, we can identify additional pages that need reinstatement.

Please share this link (on.rotary.org/fbissue) with social media admins of Rotary clubs and districts in your region. Completing this form will allow us to add these pages to Meta’s “allow list” within their Brand Rights Protection tool as part of our efforts to resolve the issue.

For pages already removed by Meta, please indicate this on the form. Page admins will then receive an email with specific instructions (from Meta’s guidance) and an official letter from Rotary International to support their restoration efforts. We will submit a consolidated list of pages requiring reinstatement in bulk to Meta for processing and review.

We are focused on finding a lasting solution to restore these pages and prevent future disruptions. Your support in sharing this message will help us gather the necessary information and expedite the process.

Here is the form link once more: on.rotary.org/fbissue

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards,

Andy Sternberg
Manager, Social Media & Audience Development

Follow Rotary on Social:
Facebook - facebook.com/rotary
Instagram - @rotaryinternational
LinkedIn – Rotary International
YouTube – @rotaryinternational

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This year we feature many activities to add to the enjoyment
of the District Conference agenda.

Did you know that all attendees will receive an incredible keepsake gift bag?
The bag includes a beautiful leather-covered journal,
an ink gel pen, a District Conference T-shirt, and some wonderful themed gifts.

District 6360 Rotarians Welcome Featured Speaker JOE DITTMAR
Appearing Saturday, May 3rd, 5:30-8:00PM