Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?—This is a question you don’t want to ask. It’s understandable, as you don’t want to feel like you’re tweeting into the void. As you notice a recent drop in engagement, you wonder if shadow bans have anything to do with it.
You may have several questions about Twitter’s shadow bans. What actions will the platform take? When do you get a shadow ban, and how can you fix it? With this guide, you’ll understand everything related to shadow bans.
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Am I Shadowbanned on Twitter Mean? Account Restricted
What does “Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?” even mean? It is a technique the social media platform uses to restrict the reach of your account. However, it doesn’t mean they’ve banned your account.
As per Twitter’s blog post in 2018, they don’t hand out shadow bans to users. However, they make it harder for other users to find your posts. They use an algorithm to decrease the visibility of your tweets. Or, they make your content undiscoverable to non-followers. Technically, it is a shadow ban, even if they don’t call it by this name.
Why does Twitter resort to shadow banning in the first place? If they find your tweets violate their rules and policies, they’ll go this route.
What Happens When I Am Shadowbanned on Twitter?
Despite the platform’s claims about shadow bans, they act against violating Twitter accounts. However, this process isn’t black and white. You break a rule and receive a shadow ban instantly. Twitter uses several factors like the ones highlighted below to determine what to do:
- Your account’s date of creation.
- Whether you have a verified phone number or email address.
- Whether you mention Twitter accounts you don’t follow repeatedly.
- Your Twitter activity, i.e., how often do you tweet, mention and retweet on the platform?
- If Twitter took action against your account for an earlier violation.
- Is your profile information complete, i.e., name, username, bio and profile photo?
- How do Twitter users interact with your account? Do they block, follow, or mute your profile?
There are also other factors, but Twitter doesn’t mention them.
Once Twitter determines you’ve broken the community guidelines, they’ll enforce any of the following limitations:
- Reduce the reach of your tweets significantly. Your posts won’t appear in search results, recommended notifications, and trends. It also disappears from the For You section.
- Prevent ads from running along with your tweets. Twitter only recently implemented this, i.e., in April 2023.
- Ask you to remove the rule-violating tweet. You have up to 14 days to take action.
The platform now places a label next to your tweet. It informs you and other users about limiting the visibility of the post. If another user reports your direct message (DM) to them, you can no longer contact them. They won’t receive any message you send them.
How Long Does Twitter Shadowban Last?
Let’s assume the question “Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?” applies to you. You’ll want to know how long does the Twitter shadow ban last? Well, the platform doesn’t go into great detail on this topic. If this is your first violation, it can last 24 – 72 hours (1 – 3 days). The ban length will increase when you regularly break the platform’s rules.
Sometimes, you may not get a shadow ban despite the platform limiting your reach. Twitter calls this a public interest exception. Even though your tweet breaks its rules, the platform allows the post to remain.
Everyone reading the tweet will get a notice. However, there are several criteria you must meet to qualify for this exception. Also, it is only available to the government and elected officials now.
Does this mean you can post anything if you’re an official? No, as the platform weighs the value it provides to public interest against the possibility of causing harm. The post won’t qualify for the exception if the latter is greater.
Even if your tweet doesn’t violate any policies, it may restrict your post. In this case, the platform considers the age of the target audience. Users below 18 won’t be able to see your post. Also, anyone who doesn’t provide their date of birth will suffer from the same issue.
Why Am I Shadowbanned on Twitter?
Let’s get to the bottom of “Why am I shadow banned on Twitter?”. As highlighted earlier, it has something to do with the platform’s rules and policies. Let’s dive deeper into this topic as it’ll help explain Twitter’s actions.
Your Account Behavior Resembles a Bot
Twitter considers your account behavior before taking any restrictive action. Here are a few red flags:
- Post multiple similar tweets to get a topic or hashtag trending. Or create several accounts to achieve the same goals.
- Add unrelated hashtags to tweets. There is no relation between the post and the hashtags.
- Ask users to engage with specific tweets by providing monetary or other rewards.
- Spending money on various rule-breaking websites to boost engagement.
- Mass following or unfollowing Twitter accounts within a short period.
In other words, Twitter assumes you’re trying to manipulate the conversation on their platform. If you try to spam the algorithm, Twitter will provide challenges to complete. For instance, you must verify your phone number or email address. Or, it will ask you to complete the CAPTCHA.
Failure to do so within a specific time frame will result in Twitter taking action.
Twitter considers any account which shows automation as a bot. However, there are nuances in this case, as not all bots are bad.
Your Account Is Impersonating Another User or Organization
Impersonation is one of the reasons why you’re shadowbanned on Twitter. The social media platform wants to keep all conversations on its site authentic. It is a policy violation if you’ve impersonated anyone, a person, group or organization. The platform assumes you’re trying to mislead users, even if it is a joke or meme.
Your Tweets Contain Manipulated or Dangerous Content
Have you posted any manipulated content like deep fakes or photoshopped images recently? Retweeted or shared a link of the same? If yes, this answers your question, “Am I shadow banned on Twitter?” Sure, deep fakes are interesting, but Twitter doesn’t think so. The platform is against any user or organization trying to influence user behavior negatively.
Tweets shouldn’t affect the platform’s search quality. Any post which affects the platform directly or indirectly for the worse comes under this category. Promoting violence, hate, terrorism, or anything illegal is a strict no.
Remember that you can share sensitive content if you mark it the same. However, it will reduce the reach of your posts.
Your Tweets Attack Government Functions
Twitter takes government processes like elections seriously. Any attempt to mislead users on this subject forces the platform to act. Any tweet that confuses users or tries to silence participation in these processes is a violation. Avoid them if you don’t want to ask yourself, “Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?”
How Do I Know If I Am Shadowbanned on Twitter
You know the answers to “Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?” What about “How do I know if I am shadowbanned on Twitter?” Here’s how you can get the answer to this question:
Check If You Are Shadowbanned on Twitter With Statistics
Your tweet’s statistics provide insight into whether your account has a shadow ban. Look at your latest post and note down the following figures:
- Comments
- Likes
- Impressions
- Profile Visits
- Retweet
- View Count
Similarly, do the same for older posts and compare the statistics. Although there will be variability in these figures, a considerable drop-off is a sign.
Verify If You Are Shadowbanned on Twitter With Profile Visibility
Check your account’s visibility to answer whether I am shadowbanned on Twitter. Here’s how you can verify your profile’s status:
- Open any browser of your choice.
- Navigate to incognito mode. You can use any VPN if you want to be sure about your account’s visibility. However, this isn’t necessary.
- Copy and paste the following – https://twitter.com/explore.
- Look for the search bar. If you can’t find it, open any tweet. Type your username in the search bar.
When the platform deals out search bans, it prevents Twitter accounts from appearing on search.
Comment Labels Indicate Shadowbanning on Twitter
Get to the bottom of Am I shadowbanned on Twitter with these steps:
- Search for any public account on Twitter. Copy the profile’s URL, as you’ll need it later.
- Leave a comment in one of their tweets.
- Log out from your Twitter account.
- Open incognito mode in your browser and paste the profile URL.
- Go to the tweet you commented on and open it.
- Check whether your comment appears towards the bottom. Or if there are labels like the tweet contains misleading information. In either case, your account has a shadow ban from Twitter.
Utilize Third-Party Tools to Check If You Are Shadowbanned on Twitter
An easy method to get the answer to “Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?” is to use third-party checking tools. Here are two handy websites you can use:
Enter your username into these tools, and they’ll check your account for a shadow ban. Last year, Elon Musk tweeted that you’ll know why there’s a ban. However, they’ve yet to implement this feature.
How To Fix When You Are Shadowbanned on Twitter
When the answer to “Am I shadow banned on Twitter?” is yes, you want to know whether it is fixable. Luckily, the platform doesn’t go to great lengths to restrict your account. There are three solutions you must try to fix this problem:
- Stop All Social Activity for 3 Days Minimum. As highlighted earlier, the platform can take up to 3 days to remove the shadow ban. In the meantime, don’t try to post anything. Avoid replying to other tweets or retweeting any posts. Similarly, you shouldn’t directly message any user. As long as you don’t continue to break their policies, they will reinstate your account. After three days, you won’t ask yourself, “Am I shadowbanned on Twitter?”
- Remove Tweets To Resolve Am I Shadow Banned on Twitter.
- Contact Customer Support for Further Assistance. Say you’ve done the above steps but still don’t see any reversal in the shadow ban. If this is the case, contact the platform’s customer support. Please explain your situation in detail so they understand it clearly. If all goes well, the platform will remove the shadow. You must delete all tweets you believe break the platform’s rules. Look for these types of posts and remove them immediately. Maintaining a clean profile is better than allowing those tweets to stay.
Should You Worry When Are Shadowbanned on Twitter?
It’s always difficult to ask yourself, “Am I shadow banned on Twitter?” Before posting anything on your profile, research your information. Don’t impersonate anyone on or outside the platform. Avoid hot takes as much as possible.
Removing tweets is a lot of work if you’ve posted multiple rule-violating posts. What if your account was part of a hack, and you must bulk delete several posts? Instead of going through your account post by post, use TweetDelete. Simplify deleting tweets and give your Twitter timeline a clean look today!
