Facebook has become a ubiquitous social media platform over the last decade. It is only natural that stringent policies are put in place to protect the users from security threats, distressing content, and misinformation. Thus, banning of personal accounts and unpublishing of Facebook pages are more commonplace now.

It doesn’t help that Facebook does not always send an email letting you know about their decision and that contacting Facebook support is not easy.

You can however initiate investigation by filling up this Facebook form.

After that, trying to publish your Facebook page again is an uphill battle. 

Why did Facebook unpublish my page?

If you are running a Facebook page and it stops showing up, your page could have been reported by some users, flagged for content containing violence, made a potential violation against Facebook terms, or a combination of two or all three of these reasons.

Facebook is understandably strict. They will not hesitate to unpublish your Facebook page if the posts on it deal with any infringement in terms and conditions of Facebook. People would no longer be able to see your posts on their news feed.

Prior to starting your own page, you should read all the terms and conditions so you can avoid having your page getting axed by the platform moderators. The trouble it takes to comply with the policies is nothing compared to the inconvenience of getting your page back up again. If it’s a page for your business, it is especially damning to your revenues and audience visibility. 

If you think your page was unpublished in error, you may appeal the decision. If your appeal is denied, your page will be deleted permanently.

How to not get unpublished

Here are some reminders on how to properly manage your page in compliance with Facebook’s terms:

Create content that’s safe for viewing

There are criteria for content that every Facebook user should abide. If your posts are unnecessarily distressing, lewd or obscene, hateful, and engaged in inciting violence towards an individual or certain groups of people, Facebook will reassess your content and unpublish your page if there’s sufficient cause. Make sure that your posts are not controversial stuff especially for the wrong reasons.

Do not get or purchase illegal likes

A lot of people engage in a business of selling and purchasing likes on Facebook just so they can get put on a show of credibility and popularity. Almost always Facebook is able to track these illegal likes and this becomes a ground for getting unpublished. Aim for organic engagement to increase your page likes instead. 

Do not plagiarize 

Your page will get pinged for plagiarism since it is a direct violation of copyright on intellectual property, not to mention public call-out, and worse, boycott. Take inspiration from other content creators, but stay original and just add your own spin to your posts. 

Do not engage in illegal activities using your Facebook page

Your page will be flagged and possibly unpublished if it is involved in indiscreet business ventures like distribution of drugs, liquor, or war weapons since they are liable to posing threat to the public. The same thing will happen if you promote illegal online activities like match-fixing, gambling, or terrorism.

Additionally, it is not only unethical to use your Facebook page as a platform for the promotion of illegal marketing but also against Facebook’s terms and conditions.

Do not spam post

Publishing spam posts especially for advertising questionable or inauthentic items is grounds for getting unpublished in Facebook. 

How do I publish my Facebook page again? 

When your page gets deleted, most likely you will have to start over. It is not ideal, especially if you leverage on your Facebook business page for your website traffic.

When you’re using your Facebook page for commercial reasons, it will impale our business and it is difficult to build your page and traction from the ground up. When it has to do with you violating policies, it can be an arduous process of settling the issue and convincing Facebook to put your page back. 

If you still have your Facebook page, you might want to consider diversifying your audience traffic as a fail-safe measure. Start reaching out to other social media platforms and let other people know that you’re branching out. You can make your announcement on your Facebook page while you’re at it.

Select one that will allow you to drive traffic in the same league that your Facebook business page does. Digital presence is a powerful thing; be careful of how you utilize it and make sure to expand. 

Here are some steps you need to comply in case your page gets unpublished by the Facebook team.

• Delete all of your posts 

Make sure that all the posts are removed from your page. You can do that with the help of different cleaner apps available in market. If you have valuable marketing material from some of the posts you’re about to delete, save it on your computer so you can recycle them in the future.

• Write an appeal and submit

Next, click the appeal button down on the page to republish your page. Your appeal must be articulate and contain a plan of action to make sure this won’t happen again.

Below is a sample format for a Facebook appeal:

Dear Facebook Team:

The page {YourPageName} I and my colleagues were Managers of was unpublished on 9th of June and we are really suprised because we did not expect this to happen at all. Our fanpage was doing very well and we loved interacting with our loyal fans. We have always posted as per rules set. We would like clear reasoning as to why our page has been unpublished and if the reason is unjust which I think it is, then we would like my page to be republished with immediate effect, we hope for the best and a reply from the Facebook Team.

{YourName}

• Check your page after 72 hours

Once you have submitted your appeal and proof wait within 72 hours to hear from the Facebook team. So check your email inbox daily which you have connected to your disabled Facebook page. 

How do I appeal an unpublished Facebook page?

You can check this link for when you have page block, as this might help in appealing for an unpublished page as well: https://www.Facebook.com/help/contact/683377875184960 

When you make your appeal, it should only do so through text.  Take note that there are no other fields provided in this link.

Facebook general support emails

When you don’t feel confident about the actions you’ve taken with the appeal button, you can reach out to these email addresses to contact Facebook for deleted or unpublished Facebook pages. These emails are for general Facebook support but should be helpful in appealing for unpublished/deleted pages as well:

• appeals@Facebook.com
• warning@Facebook.com
• abuse@Facebook.com
• appeals@support.Facebook.com
• info@Facebook.com
• appeals@Facebook.com
• support@Facebook.com
• customerservice@Facebook.com
• postmaster@Facebook.com
• root@Facebook.com
• legal@Facebook.com

Bottom line

More often than not, the appeal you send is not really checked by a real person but their system which picks up certain keywords and assesses if it’s worthy to publish again.

When you get your page back, give it a rest. Don’t post anything for a day or two, and re-read the terms and conditions again so you can reset your content creating parameters. Take care of your page visibility.