Facebook Community Standards

[alastairb]

Hi folks,

I've been making some changes to a website for a friend (for a local sports club), and he's noticed that recently he cannot add a link to the site in Facebook or Instagram posts, without it being flagged as going against the "Community Standards" ... which is proving very frustrating ...

The domain for the site was previously using a masked redirect to another domain, and had no SSL in place ... I've removed these two potential issues, and reviewed the site content, but there is nothing I can see that would violate any of the policies.

Any ideas on what else to try in the meantime? We've contacted Meta to try and get them to unblock the site, but who knows if that will ever make a difference.

Many thanks!

 

[zigojacko]

Run the URL through their debugger and it should say what the problem is...

 

[fisicx]

What happens if you post to a different site (eg Google.co.uk)

 

[alastairb]

Just tried the debugger, but it refused to play ball ... I got the following error message:

We can't review this website because the content doesn't meet our Community Standards.

I've tried using the link in other social media sites with test posts, and they don't appear to have any issues with the site.

 

[zigojacko]

Just tried the debugger, but it refused to play ball ... I got the following error message:



I've tried using the link in other social media sites with test posts, and they don't appear to have any issues with the site.

Okay it seems to be banned on the platform completely for some reason. I don't think that will be an issue with the website, it will be something to do with activity carried out on Facebook or Instagram in the past.

It will be unlikely you can do much about that.

 

[alastairb]

Oh dear ... ! So if we want to link to it from a Meta site .. we might need a new domain .. ?!

 

[fisicx]

You might even get your FB account locked. Best to leave things as they are and hope you can continue to post. Getting a new domain isn’t the answer as Meta knows who you are and will link the two together.

Do you really need the FB page?

 

[alastairb]

The FB (and instagram page) are the main method my friend uses to post things about the club, on a regular basis ... and then provides a link to the website with more detailed info about the club, directions and contact details etc. He'd really like to keep things this way ...

 

[fisicx]

Maybe that’s what he wants but it’s not going to happen anymore

What happens if he links to other websites? Do they get blocked as well?

 

[alastairb]

Yes, he's the only person posting - however, I get the exact same issue if I create a post with a link to the same website.

Links to other sites are working fine.

Now .. interestingly, I've been working on changes to the website, and I've created a clone of the main site, with a revamped home page but otherwise all the same content. This is sitting on a subdomain of my own entirely separate site (completely different URL to the problem one) ... posting a link to this site works for both of us - so because the content is the same, it seems FB is complaining about something else perhaps .. ?

 

[fisicx]

In an earlier post you said you were using a redirect and were lacking an SSL. Facebook has decided this broke the rules and despite fixing things the mark is against the account and is unlikely to be removed.

Maybe setting up a new domain will work. Doesn’t hurt to try.