[redeux]

I deleted my FB account a long long time ago and then a few years later I wanted to make a new one for business reasons and they blocked me from doing so.

I’m not saying don’t delete your account - I still don’t have one, but be aware that it may not be as simple as just creating a new one if you change your mind in the future.

[james_pm]

Same. I have Instagram and Threads accounts, but I tried to get Facebook back about 5 years after deleting it and immediately got asked for ID and then was banned with no appeal possible. I guess they take deleting your account very personally.

[krowfromthewall]

similar thing happened to me, my recently opened Instagram account was suspended saying that it was being used for spam (even though there were no posts or comments, only liking and saving other people's posts), and allowed me to get it back only after adding a phone number.

[redeux]

> got asked for ID and then was banned with no appeal possible

This is exactly what happened to me as well.

[amyames]

Same. I had a deactivated account from 2015 I could no longer access .

Subsequent attempts to make new ones were instantly banned for “no reason.”

They did work with me to reinstate the 2015 account. And it’s never been banned or suspended since. I don’t really use it anyway.

But that’s how they are. They trust older accounts. New ones are treated like criminals.

[mediumsmart]

But if the deactivated account was still there for you to try and access and for fb to reactivate it and then you come and try to impersonate that old account with a new one the system has good reasons not let you do that and not telling the potential identity thief about these reasons is the right way to do it.

[amyames]

I see your point: Facebook is known for having “shadow profiles” on people who have never used Facebook in their lives.

So to them, “this is the profile we’ve decided is amy “ and “this one isn’t.” Even if it is….

[mediumsmart]

I agree with you too and I think most of this is automated. A client triggered this like you did and the only way I found was to get a dedicated phone with a new sim (for social media accounts). I don't even dare to check if the trigger account is still there (they promised to delete it after some time) - I know the one from before that, which triggered the ban is still fine - nothing happening there in 8 years. Why can't it be simple like skype in the old days when Mum made a new account every time she forgot her password...

[pull_my_finger]

This is exactly why I _haven't_ deleted my account. Until the make a way for me to 100% delete my data, removing my own access to it seems counterproductive.

[mixmastamyk]

Aren't most services demanding multifactor id these days? Ostensibly to defend against fraud, but nicely dovetails into their surveillance databases.

[iszomer]

I think it mainly affects users who opted into FB's SSO feature across their other services.

[georgeecollins]

Get a headset. You can get a FB account with one and better still there is actually some customer service.

[baobun]

A headset...? You need to provide more details.

[plasma_beam]

Meta Quest

[bdangubic]

Meta Quest is exactly what deleting facebook account should be named :)

[wakawaka28]

This might be a way to protect people who really don't want an account from having their identity stolen. If you deleted your account, one of your connections could see that and make another one in your name to mess you up.

[iszomer]

Akin to FOMO? Some services will retain your used account usernames post-deletion while others do not. IIRC, facebook does the former.

[wakawaka28]

I don't know what you mean. People are saying that Facebook wouldn't allow them to reuse their own old username. I think it's to prevent identity theft as someone could pick up any deleted username and pretend to be the old owner. They could even re-add the old owner's old connections to establish the scam. A few people might think "I thought I was already connected to this guy!" but most wouldn't think twice if they saw that the username and photo were the same.

I think it makes sense to allow reuse of usernames, but only after a sufficiently long period of time. I don't know if 20 years is enough, but something in that ballpark would be needed to reduce the risk of identity theft.

[UncleOxidant]

You couldn't use a secondary or business email account to sign up?

[redeux]

Probably, but I already didn't like FB. I was just doing it as a checkbox to say we were on FB too. Once they were actively hostile to me it was no longer worth it. As a matter of course, I try not to interact with hostile people or companies if I can help it.

[TheNewsIsHere]

In my experience, no.

For all the bots that clearly get through, they have some pretty onerous algorithms at work to figure out if you’ve ever had another account. It seems to matter not whether you use a different email or IP address. The same name alone seemed to be enough for them to lock a business account I was trying to create.

They’ve gotten a LOT more aggressive I think. About 12 years ago I created a second account in my own name for use exclusively with family, and never had issues with that one. I think that part of their risk analysis is that whatever risk analysis was performed at the time the account was created is somewhat sticky. Likely to prevent complaints about changing goalposts.

Of course I don’t use any Facebook/Meta property anymore.