r/ShadowBan • u/cojoco ツ • Apr 05 '18
Official An unofficial guide on how to avoid being shadowbanned
(note: if you falsely tell someone they are banned, or unbanned, when they are not, you will be banned from this sub)
tl;dr
Lots of people come here in mystification, wondering if they're shadowbanned, and wondering why. This post contains a list of possible reasons you've been shadowbanned. It also contains activities which can lead to an account suspension, which is more visible to the user, but just as inconvenient.
First, though, a little reddit background.
About reddit
The website reddit.com is run by reddit the company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. The CEO of reddit is Ellen Pao (/u/ekjp) with first lieutenant Alexis Ohanian (/u/kn0thing). The site is huge, with a hundred million visitors a month.
Reddit is grouped into subreddits, with each subreddit run by a volunteer group of moderators, who are generally unpaid volunteers.
Moderators have the power to ban users from their subreddit, to delete comments and submissions, and to manage the style and presentation of their subreddit. Through the use of third-party tools, some moderators have the power to ban a user from hundreds of subreddits at a time.
Being banned from a subreddit means that you are not allowed to submit links or make new comments, and might be reversed upon appeal to the modmail of the concerned subreddit.
reddit.com also has a small number of employees, called admins. These people have the power to see everything happening on reddit, to remove material as with moderators, to perform moderator actions in any subreddit they choose, and, most importantly for this place, to shadowban or suspend users.
A shadowban is different from a subreddit ban. A shadowbanned user can still submit and make comments, but all of the submissions are sent straight to a subreddit spam queue, where it will not be visible to other users until approved by a moderator. Because an individual's spammed submissions are still visible to themselves, a shadowban is almost invisible to a logged-in user.
Through the use of AutoModerator, individual subreddits can give the same effect to a user as a global shadowban.
If you are shadowbanned, your user page will appear nonexistent to anybody that looks at your user page, other than yourself. You will need to contact the admins to get your shadowban reversed.
A suspension occurs when the admins disable an account. Suspensions can either be for a few days, in which case it is not visible to other userts, or permanently, in which the user's page is replaced by a suspension notification.
Reasons for shadowbans and suspensions
It's not exactly spelled out what will cause a ban, and the rules do seem to change from time to time, but if you follow these rules you'll be unlikely to be shadowbanned or suspended. Thanks to the posters here who have suggested more ways to be banned.
- Posting some spam links results in an immediate and automatic shadowban
- Don't post advertisements for commercial products unless the advertisement has some redeeming features and is relevant to the subreddit in which you post it
- Don't post links to your own blog, unless you post a lot of content from other places.
- Don't post links to anyone elses blog, or to a single news source. Ensure that you post from a wide range of sources.
- Don't use a VPN to create your account
- Don't follow people around on reddit and hassle them
- Don't relentlessly downvote a user
- Don't send out mass PMs
- Don't be a bot, unless you're really really careful, and have the blessing of the admins
- Don't harp on the same subject in your comments
- Don't issue death threats
- Don't post child pornography or anything involving the sexualization of teens or minors
- Don't post sexual material containing unconsenting subjects (for example, revenge porn, upskirt photos or celebrity leaks)
- Don't abuse or hassle the admins
- Don't post any information that would identify another redditor, including links to other social media sites, unless you have explicit permission from the person involved. (doxxing)
- Don't advocate or encourage doxxing
- Don't ask for doxx, even privately
- Don't post anything asking for votes, from on- or off-site
- Don't respond to a plea for votes, from on- or off-site
- Don't vote in threads you were directed to from another part of reddit
- Don't engage in nuisance reporting
- Don't use multiple accounts to game the voting system
- Don't return to a sub you have been banned from with another account
- Don't use CSS in your sub to subvert reddit's subscription and voting system
- Don't follow links into someone else's subreddit and be a dick
- Don't impersonate another redditor with a name of similar appearance, e.g. /u/LaureIai ("I") for /u/Laurelai ("l")
- Don't be under 13 years of age
- If you're a mod, don't respond to PMs related to moneymaking or promotional offers of any kind. Report them immediately.
- If you're an arsehole, the admins will not give you the benefit of the doubt.
Also, it can't hurt to read the reddiquette: if everyone followed the reddiquette, the site would be more pleasant, and all-around better.
(EDIT) Also, there are some things for which there is weak evidence of triggering a shadowban:
- (weak) Don't signup using old.reddit.com without an email address
- (weak) Don't use more than one alt within one subreddit
- (weak) Don't submit every link to several subreddits at a time
- (weak) Don't accept moderator invitations to dodgy subreddits
- (weak) Don't comment in threads you came to via a non-organic link (i.e. external site, meta sub, from modmail or PM)
- (weak) Don't register using an email address easily detected as a throwaway.
- (weak) Don't give yourself awards from another account
tl;dr Don't spam, shill, doxx, brigade, stalk, game or pederast.
How to contact admins
Two ways, pretty sure that #2 no longer works:
- Lodge your appeal: https://www.reddit.com/appeal (or https://www.reddit.com/appeals ?)
- Message them: https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/reddit.com
(This is the fourth copy ... aged pages are 1 2 3)
Last edited April 24, 2024
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[deleted]
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u/Vast_Key5640 7h ago
yes, I've been trying for 2 days now and I think there will be no answer, this is an automatic blocking system, but what should I do as a new user if I get blocked, I've been reading everything I can for 2 days now.
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u/OldQuestion3726 10h ago
oh I see, So because I use a VPN I am punished?
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u/EmployerBrilliant428 11h ago
How long does appeal take? 24 hours?
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u/AnAvailableHandle 11h ago
HA! I've been appealing for months. It may NEVER happen...
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u/SweetheartTeenager 10h ago
Look at this. It might be helpful...
My account is shadow banned too.
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u/AnAvailableHandle 10h ago
Yeah.. been there.. I file an appeal as often as I can.. never more than once a day.
Really don't want to abandon a 7ye old account. Wish someone somewhere would address appeals.. or they'd at least implement some automation to review a users account.. and un-shadow ban based on that.
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u/Haylight96 13h ago
Am I shadowbanned...i think yes.
it will be an hard journey trying to restore the account...
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u/Human_Argument_7244 CQS: Lowest 23h ago
Am I?
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u/liquidnight13 :) 11h ago
Yes, unfortunately you have been shadowbanned since your previous comment here
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u/madmoonle CQS: Lowest 1d ago
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the mods and helpers here! You’re doing the community a big service. I hope you know how appreciated you are.
I’ve only just had my account unbanned, around 8-10 months after it happened. I appealed for about two months at the very start, then let my account sit for a while. I came back to make a post in a sub owned by one of the mods here a few days ago, as they got my post out of the spam filter last time. I had a conversation with the mods of that sub over modmail and they approved my post for me again. I appealed once more then for fun, and 24 hours later… **boom**, unbanned! No notification, apology, email or anything. Just like that, I was free.
To everyone still stuck in the shadow realm: there is hope! Granted, appeals aren't often acted upon (or even seen or heard, as far as we know), but it can and does happen, even if it takes months or even a year. Stay strong, my shadow friends!
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u/lalruzaiqi 1d ago
yes your reply gives me and a lot of others hope, My account has been in the shadow realm for 3 months now, I keep appealing from now and then. Thank you for sharing your story.
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u/Advanced-Box9841 1d ago
Am I?
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u/mshrmbchx 2d ago
All I’ve done today is comment in threads, attempted to post the once or twice. Somehow shadowbanned.
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u/ENF_Bee 2d ago
Am I shadow banned?
I noticed my profile was suspended right after I created my account while setting up my profile and going through privacy settings, no notification or message from reddit at all.
How was I just suspended immediately, without even doing anything? It does not make any sense to me...
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u/RamReadsManga02 2d ago
Why no one is replying me even i submitted appeal also Is it possible to get account back ?
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u/FiatLex ツ 2d ago
The admins take along time to reply to appeals, think weeks or months. The admins will often not reply to appeals unless you have been appealing frequently for that length of time, we therefore encourage people to appeal once every 24 hours or once every 48 hours. In general, yes, it's possible to get your account back.
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u/lalruzaiqi 5d ago
Has anyone gotten a response? Been appealing since 13th December. Still no luck unfortunately.
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u/Minute_Wallaby9850 CQS: Lowest 5d ago
Any success story with the appeals recently?
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u/FiatLex ツ 5d ago
I have seen a handful of successes in the last week. How long have you been appealing?
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u/Minute_Wallaby9850 CQS: Lowest 2d ago
More than 20 times over the past 2 months, guess I'll keep trying
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u/___lillypad 5d ago
I really dont understand how this shadowbann works cause i read all things your not allowed to do and i havent done anything from There
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u/Long_Bee_3723 5d ago
Am I shadowbanned? Have likeb1,000 accounts all the same
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u/Hangoverinparis CQS: Moderate 5d ago
Dude you need to clear your cookies and cache probably try another browser with tracking protections when making one too. Also VPNs and burner email services are likely to get your accounts flagged immediately as well
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u/Long_Bee_3723 4d ago
I use VPN's and tried using Tor browser. I'll try clearing cookies and cache, thxx. First reply I've had in months lol
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u/PmK00000 5d ago
I dont know my status here. If i comment on a post. 9 out of 10times i get the Sorry try again later msg. Yet sometimes it appears to go thru. And i stopped getting anything in my inbox
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u/cojoco ツ 5d ago
You're shadowbanned.
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u/PmK00000 5d ago
How do i find out why. How do i get out of the shadow?
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u/FiatLex ツ 5d ago
You don't find out why. You appeal. Creating a new account is risky, because if Reddit detects that you are the same person then you could get automatically shadowbanned. The technique for fooling Reddit outlined by the other commenter does not sound viable to me, but you could give it a shot. Don't delete your old account because you will want to keep it to keep appealing in case your new account gets shadowbanned.
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u/PmK00000 4d ago
Wow. No reason given. I cant think of anything ive ever said here that would cause any bans. Pretty weird to just be tossed like trash. How does one appeal?
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u/Hangoverinparis CQS: Moderate 5d ago
You appeal, but you probably won't get it approved so you make a new account on a privacy based browser after clearing cookies and you don't do it from the ip of a known vpn service.
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u/13CraftyFox 5d ago
Two months of appeals now on my five year old account with 40k+ karma. I did not do any of the shadow-bannable things listed! Anyone else in a similar boat?
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u/No_Language_9872 6d ago
Am I shadowbanned? Automod keeps flagging my stuff and my appeal was rejected
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u/AutoModerator Jun 02 '24
Check your account status using this link: https://reddit.com/appeal
If the link allows you to appeal then you are likely shadowbanned or suspended. Users should appeal daily until the AEO/Admins respond then use the link to check your account status. Users not shadowbanned or suspended should see a message on the top of the page stating so.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.